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PEABODY  MUSEUM 


OF 


AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOLOGY 

HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 

PAPERS 

VOLUME  III 


Cambridge,  Mass. 
Published  by  the  Museum 
1904-1913 


CONTENTS 


1.  The  Cahokia  and  Surrounding  Mound  Groups.  By  D.  I. 

Bushnell,  Jr.  May,  1904. 

Introductory  Note  by  D.  I.  Bushnell,  Jr .  3 

Cahokia  Group . 5 

St.  Louis  Group .  12 

Mounds  in  Forest  Park . 13 

Mound  Group  near  Long  Lake .  16 

Objects  discovered .  18 

Bluffs  east  of  Cahokia .  19 

Cahokias  and  Tamaoas .  19 

2.  Exploration  of  Mounds,  Coahoma  Co.,  Mississippi.  By 

Charles  Peabody.  June,  1904. 

Introductory  Note  by  Charles  Peabody .  23 

Dorr  Mound .  23 

Edwards  Mound .  25 

Strata .  29 

Holes .  32 

Burials .  34 

Objects  found .  37 

Articles  of  clay .  38 

Articles  of  stone .  40 

Shell .  46 

Miscellaneous .  47 

Bones  of  Animals .  51 

Conclusions .  51 

Appendix  I.  Human  Bones.  By  W.  C.  Farabee .  52 

Appendix  II.  The  Copiah  County  Wall .  56 

Description  of  plates . 57 

3.  Inheritance  of  Digital  Malformations  in  Man.  By  W.  C. 

Farabee.  March,  1905. 

Editorial  Note  by  F.  W.  Putnam .  67 

Inheritance  of  digital  malformation  in  Man .  69 

Table  I.  Length  of  Metacarpals  and  Phalanges .  70 

Table  II.  Measurements.  Male  and  Female .  72 

Heredity  .  73 

iii 


IV 


CONTENTS 


Table  III.  Order  of  birth  and  sex .  74 

Table  IV.  Sex  relations .  75 

Table  V.  Genealogy  of  the  Abnormals . (opposite)  76 

Table  VI.  Normals  and  Abnormals .  “  76 

4.  The  Mandans.  A  Study  of  their  Culture,  Archaeology 
and  Language.  By'  G.  F.  Will  and  H.  J.  Spinden.  August, 

1906. 

Editorial  Note  by  F.  W.  Putnam .  81 

Preface .  83 

The  Mandans .  85 

Section  I.  History,  Life  and  Customs  .  97 

Physical  Characteristics . 101 

Villages . 103 

Houses . 106 

Dress . 110 

Weapons  . 112 

Manufactures . 113 

Agriculture  . 117 

Hunting  and  Fishing . 120 

War  . 122 

Games  . 124 

Miscellaneous . 126 

Social  Organization . 129 

Religion . 132 

Mythology . 138 

Ceremonials . 143 

Burials . 145 

Section  II.  Archaeology . 148 

Mounds . 152 

Cache  Pits . 157 

House  Sites . 158 

Stone . 163 

Copper . 168 

Bone . 168 

Pottery . 173 

Vegetable  Remains . 179 

Animal  Bones . 182 

Burial  and  Human  Remains . 183 

Section  III.  Language . 188 

Phonetics . 189 

Euphonic  Changes . 190 

The  Root . 190 

Reduplication . 191 

Inflection  of  the  Noun  . 191 


PAPERS 


PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMEEIOAN  AEOHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HAEYAED  UNIVEESITY 


Vol.  III.— No.  1 


THE 


CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING 
MOUND  GROUPS 


D.  I.  BUSHNELL,  Jr. 

Assistant  in  Archaeology,  Peabody  Museum 


WITH  FIVE  PLATES,  MAP  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  THE  TEXT 


Published  by  the  Museum 
Cambridge,  Mass. 

May,  1904. 


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PAPERS 


OF  THE 

PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


Vol.  III.— No.  1 


THE 

CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING 
MOUND  GROUPS 


D.  I.  BUSHNELL,  Jr. 

Assistant  in  Archaeology,  Peabody  Museum 


WITH  FIVE  PLATES,  MAP  AND  ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  THE  TEXT 


Published  by  the  Museum 
Cambridge,  Mass. 

May,  1904. 


Copyright,  1904. 

By  Peabody  Museum  of  American 
Archaeology'  and  Ethnology, 
Harvard  University. 


Salem  IPress : 

The  Salem  Press  Co.,  Salem,  Mass. 
1904. 


itTTY  CENTER 
LIBRARY 


INTRODUCTORY  NOTE. 


Near  the  geographical  centre  of  the  Mississippi  Valley  is  the 
extensive  group  of  large  mounds  surrounding  the  great  terraced 
earthwork  —  the  largest  in  the  United  States  —  to  which  the  name 
“  Cahokia  Mound”  has  been  applied. 

The  large  number  of  mounds  of  unusual  size  which  formerly 
stood  on  either  side  of  the  Mississippi,  and  the  vast  quantity  of 
implements  and  utensils  of  prehistoric  origin  which  have  been 
discovered,  mark  that  region  as  an  important  centre  of  population 
of  the  prehistoric  tribes  of  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

At  the  present  time  many  of  the  earthworks  have  been  destroyed 
and  others  have  been  greatly  modified  by  the  plow.  A  few  remain 
as  originally  constructed.  In  the  following  brief  description  of 
the  important  locality  the  attempt  has  been  made  to  show  the 
mounds  in  their  original  condition  as  they  were  when  first  seen  by 
the  European. 

D.  I.  Bushnkll,  ,Tr. 

Cambridge, 

November  9,  1903. 


(3) 


b 

t 

6 

C 

r 

C 

C 


AMKRIOAN  BOTTOM.' 


THE  CAHOKIA 


AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


CAHOKIA  GROUP. 

Below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri  river,  for  some  fifty  or  sixty 
miles,  the  Mississippi  is  bordered  on  the  east  by  a  rich  alluvial 
plain  to  which  the  name  “  American  Bottom  ”  is  generally  applied. 
The  plain  rises  gradually  as  it  leaves  the  river  until  it  reaches  the 
line  of  bluffs  which  forms  its  eastern  boundary.  In  width  from 
east  to  west  it  varies  from  one  to  eight  or  ten  miles.  At  38°  39' 
N.  L., —  the  location  of  the  great  mound  group, —  the  bluffs  are 
eight  miles  east  of  the  Mississippi.  The  gradual  rise  of  the  plain, 
which  is  less  than  five  feet  to  each  mile,  is  not  perceptible,  conse¬ 
quently  the  surface  appears  flat  and  level. 

Scattered  over  the  surface  are  many  shallow  lakes  or  ponds, 
some  of  considerable  size,  many  of  which,  however,  during  the 
long  dry  season  become  stagnant  pools.  Several  sluggish  streams, 
one  of  the  largest  of  which  is  known  as  Cahokia  creek,  flow  from 
the  bluffs  and  empty  into  the  Mississippi.  The  soil  is  rich  and 
fertile  ;  and  it  would  be  difficult  to  find,  throughout  the  entire 
valley  of  the  Mississippi,  a  more  productive  area.  Along  the 
watercourses  and  around  the  borders  of  the  lakes  are  heavy 
growths  of  timber,  with  dense  underbrush  and  masses  of  wild 
grapevines. 

The  west  bank  of  the  river,  unlike  the  lowland  opposite,  is  a 
high  limestone  cliff  which  rises,  in  many  places,  to  a  height  of 
sixty  feet  or  more  above  the  turbulent  waters  of  the  Mississippi. 
The  country  to  the  west  of  the  river  is  high  and  rolling  and  was 
formerly,  before  the  city  of  St.  Louis  occupied  the  site,  heavily 
timbered. 

It  is  easily  realized  that  this  region  was  well  adapted  for  the 
wants  and  requirements  of  the  prehistoric  inhabitants,  since  game, 
fish  and  wild-fowl  furnished  food,  easily  procured,  and  the  num¬ 
erous  watercourses  and  lakes  made  it  possible  to  travel  from  place 
to  place  in  the  light  draught  canoe. 


(5) 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


6 


Near  the  centre  of  the  American  Bottom,  six  miles  distant  from 
the  river  and  just  south  of  the  Cahokia  creek,  is  the  largest  prehis¬ 
toric  monument  of  the  Mississippi  valley, — the  great  Cahokia 
mound.  The  main  group  (Map  1,  A)  which  surrounds  Cahokia 
consists  of  sixty-seven  mounds,  any  one  of  which,  if  separate  and 
not  overshadowed  by  that  immense  truncated  pyramid,  would  be 
considered  a  large  mound.  The  area  covered  by  the  group  is  1.8 
miles  from  north  to  south  and  1.75  miles  from  east  to  west.  This 
area  is  represented  by  a  model  in  the  Peabody  Museum. 

Extending  from  the  Cahokia  group,  in  a  direction  south  of  west, 
is  a  chain  of  large  mounds  which  terminated  in  a  group  of  smaller 
mounds  near  the  bank  of  the  Mississippi  (Map  1,  B). 

Across  the  river  on  the  summit  of  the  limestone  bluff  there 
formerly  existed  a  group  of  twenty  or  more  mounds  all  of  which 
have  been  destroyed.  The  largest  and  most  northerly  of  the 
group  was  removed  in  1869  (Map  1,  C). 

Five  and  one  half  miles  west  of  the  river,  near  the  small  River 
des  Peres,  there  stood,  until  two  years  ago,  two  groups  of  small 
mounds  (Map  1,  E). 

Seven  miles  north  of  Cahokia  there  is  a  group  of  eleven  mounds 
on  the  shore  of  Long  Lake  (Map  1,  D).  A  short  distance  from 
the  group  are  several  isolated  mounds  of  considerable  size.  On  the 
bluffs  to  the  west  of  the  river  and  along  the  eastern  boundary  of 
the  bottom,  mounds  also  occur. 

Cahokia  mound  is  the  largest  artificial  earthwork  in  the  United 
States.  It  is  a  truncated  rectangular  pyramid  rising  to  a  height 
of  one  hundred  feet  above  the  original  surface.  The  dimensions 
of  its  base  are:  from  north  to  south,  1080  feet,  from  east  to 
west,  710  feet.  The  area  of  base  is  about  16  acres.  Viewed 
from  the  east  it  appears  regular  in  form  and  three  terraces  are 
clearly  defined.  Plate  I  shows  this  view  of  the  mound. 

In  the  plan1  (Fig.  1)  of  Cahokia  the  four  terraces  and  the  point 
which  projects  due  south  from  the  lowest  terrace  are  clearly  repre¬ 
sented.  The  lowest  terrace,  B  on  plan,  is  500  feet  from  east  to 
west  and  200  feet  from  north  to  south.  From  the  south  face  of  that 
terrace,  a  point  (A)  having  the  appearance  of  a  graded  approach, 
projects  due  south  for  a  distance  of  about  80  feet.  The  western 
side  of  this  projection  is  slightly  east  of  the  middle  of  the  mound. 

1  Reduced  from  the  plan  in  the  Twelfth  Annual  Report  of  the  Peabody  Museum, 
page  472. 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS.  7 

The  second  terrace  (C)  is  at  the  present  time  badly  gullied  and 
worn  away  (PI.  II),  which  makes  it  difficult  to  ascertain  the  size 
or  elevation.  The  next  terrace  (D)  has  an  elevation  of  97  feet 
above  the  original  surface.  Near  the  centre  of  that  terrace  there 
formerly  stood  a  small  conical  mound1  which  was  destroyed  many 


From  Model  by  Dr.  Patrick  (Peabody  Musenm 
Report,  Vol.  II,  p.  472). 

years  ago  when  a  house  was  built  upon  the  site.  The  fourth  terrace 
(E)  is  at  the  present  time  the  most  elevated  part  of  the  mound. 
Its  greatest  height  is  100  feet  above  the  plain,  or  3  feet  above  the 
third  terrace. 


Fig.  2.  SECTION  OF  CAHOKIA  FROM  N.  TO  S. 
FROM  THE  EAST. 


The  western  line  of  the  two  upper  terraces,  extending  from  north 
to  south  (Fig.  2) ,  passes  nearly  through  the  centre  of  the  mound. 


1  Featherstonhaugh.  Excursions  through  the  Slave  States.  N.  Y.,  1844.  Pages  68,  67. 


THE  CAITOKtA  ANl)  SURROUNDING  WOUND  GROUPS. 


8 


A  modern  driveway  extending  from  the  plain  to  the  summit  of  the 
mound  is  shown  on  the  plan.  With  the  exception  of  the  slopes  from 
the  lowest  terrace —  usually  referred  to  as  the  “  apron  ” —  the  sides 
are  deeply  gullied  ;  but  at  the  present  time  a  thick  sod  covers  the 
greater  portion  of  the  surface  and  will  prevent  any  further  wash¬ 
ing  away  of  this  famous  prehistoric  work,  unless  it  is  again  at¬ 
tacked  by  the  destructive  hand  of  man. 


The  relative  positions  of  the  different  mounds  do  not  suggest 
that  any  rule  was  followed  by  their  builders.  They  are  scattered 
over  the  area  apparently  without  regard  to  position  or  arrangement. 
Toward  the  east  there  is  a  suggestion  of  an  enclosure  made  by  the 
smaller  mounds,  but  it  is  probable  that  this  is  due  to  the  slightly 


THE  CAIIOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


9 


elevated  natural  terrace  upon  which  they  were  erected.  The  rec¬ 
tangular  mounds  were  built  with  their  sides  toward  the  cardinal 
points.  The  exact  geographical  location  of  Cahokia  is  N.  L. 
38°  39'  4"  and  W.  L.  90°  3'  47",  in  Madison  County,  Illinois. 

Cahokia  Mound  has  often  been  referred  to  as  “Monk’s  Mound” 
from  the  belief  held  by  many  that  at  one  time  a  body  of  Trappist 
Monks  occupied  a  building  on  its  summit. 

In  the  year  1810a  colony  of  Trappists  settled  in  the  vicinity  of 
the  large  mound  and  there  remained  until  1813,  when  they  were 
recalled  to  France. 1  When  Brackenridge  visited  them  during  the  fall 
of  1811  they  were  living  in  several  cabins  on  one  of  the  smaller 
mounds,2  probably  the  one  immediately  southwest  of  Cahokia.  In 
referring  to  the  great  mound  he  says:  “The  step  or  apron  has 

been  used  as  a  kitchen  garden . and  the  top  is  sowed  with 

wheat.”3 

At  the  present  time  few  of  the  mounds  remain  in  their  original 
condition.  Many  have  been  cultivated  and  plowed  for  more  than 
fifty  years,  for  which  reason  it  is  doubtful  whether  at  the  present 
time  they  average  more  than  one-third  their  original  height.  It  is 
even  probable  there  were  smaller  mounds,  all  traces  of  which  have 
disappeared. 

As  it  will  not  be  possible  to  give  a  detailed  description  of  all  the 
mounds,  the  main  group  will  be  considered  as  a  whole.  With 
the  exception  of  two  or  three  smaller  mounds  of  peculiar  shape,  the 
mounds  forming  the  group  are  either  conical  or  truncated  rectan¬ 
gular  pyramids.  It  is  noteworthy  that  the  larger  mounds  belong 
to  the  latter  class,  although  some  of  the  smaller,  which  at  the 
present  time  appear  circular,  may  have  been  rectangular  before 
their  surface  was  modified  by  the  plow. 

At  the  present  time  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  the  relative 
sizes  of  the  different  mounds  as  they  were  original^,  but  the  fol¬ 
lowing  dimensions  of  several  will  suffice  to  give  an  idea  of  the 
group.  See  Map  of  Cahokia  Group  (Fig.  3). 

Mound  A.  Rectangular.  Elevation  25  feet.  Dimensions  of 
base,  north  to  south  180  feet,  east  to  west  200  feet. 

Mound  B.  Conical.  Elevation  44  feet.  Base  150  feet  in 
diameter  (PI.  Ill,  Fig.  1). 

1  Letter  dated  Sept.,  1903,  from  Fr.  Obreclit,  Abbey  of  Uethsemane,  Trappist,  Ky. 

2  H.  M.  Brackenridge.  Views  of  Louisiana.  Pittsburg.  1814,  p.  287. 

3  Brackenridge,  p.  188. 


1U  THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 

Mound  C.  Rectangular  truncated  pyramid.  Elevation  46  feet. 
Dimensions  of  base,  north  to  south  160  feet,  east  to  west  125 
feet  (PL  II T,  Fig.  1). 

Mound  D.  Rectangular  truncated  pyramid.  Elevation  40  feet. 
Dimensions  of  base,  north  to  south  300  feet,  east  to  west  250  feet. 
At  the  present  time  this  mound  is  cultivated. 

Mound  E.  Rectangular.  Elevation  25  feet.  The  southwest 
corner  is  a  slightly  elevated  platform  about  75  feet  in  diameter. 
Dimensions  of  base,  north  to  south  240  feet,  east  to  west  280 
feet. 

Mound  F.  Circular.  About  200  feet  in  diameter  (PI.  Ill, 
Fig.  2). 

An  accurate  survey  of  the  entire  group  was  made  during  the 
summer  of  1875  or ’76.  The  original  map,  based  upon  data  se¬ 
cured  at  that  time,  is  now  in  the  Missouri  Historical  Society  of  St. 
Louis.1  The  model  in  the  Peabody  Museum  was  made  from  an 
exact  copy  of  that  map.  The  dimensions  of  the  several  mounds 
given  above  were  also  secured  from  the  same  source.  It  will 
therefore  be  seen  that  the  measurements  given  were  made  nearly 
thirty  years  ago;  but  as  those  particular  mounds,  with  the  excep¬ 
tion  of  mound  D,  have  thus  far  escaped  destruction  and  have  never 
been  cultivated  they  remain  to-day  practically  as  they  were  then. 
The  measurements  made  at  that  time  will  still  apply  and  serve  to 
give  an  idea  of  magnitude  of  the  group  before  its  destruction  was 
begun 

Regarding  the  application  of  the  name  Cahokia  to  the  group 
and  to  the  great  mound  in  particular,  the  following  apt  statement 
by  Professor  Putnam  in  1879  is  quoted  from  the  Twelfth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Peabody  Museum,  p.  471. 

“While  there  is  not  the  slightest  evidence  that  the  Cahokias  of 
the  time  of  La  Salle  were  the  builders  of  this,  or  of  other  mounds 
in  the  vicinity,  it  is  a  gratification  to  be  able  to  perpetuate  the 
name  of  an  extinct  tribe  of  American  Indians,  in  connection  with 
this  monument  of  an  unknown  American  nation,  rather  than  that 
of  a  religious  order  of  foreign  origin.” 

One  and  sixth-tenths  miles  due  west  from  Cahokia  are  four  out¬ 
lying  mounds  of  the  group.  One  is  rectangular  having  a  rounded 

i  A  map  of  the  Cahokia  group  was  published  by  Wm.  McAdams  in  “Antiquities  of 
Cahokia”  1883.  It  was  later  copied,  with  slight  variations,  in  the  Twelfth  Annual 
Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  p.  134.  The  map  is  not  accurate  in  many  of  its 
details. 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


11 


FIG.  4.  MOUNDS  WHICH  FORMERLY  EXISTED  IN  ST.  LOUIS. 
Drawn  from  Long’s  notes  made  in  1819.  Group  C  on  Map  1. 


12 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


summit  with  a  steep  slope  to  the  plain  below.  It  is  the  most  per¬ 
fect  of  the  group,  its  base  from  east  to  west  measures  about  300 
feet,  and  from  north  to  south  150  feet.  Its  height  is  45  feet. 
FI.  IV,  Fig.  1, shows  this  mound  from  the  southeast.  To  the  west 
and  northwest  of  these  mounds  is  an  extensive  swamp  with  some 
open  water,  which  bears  the  name  Indian  Lake. 

From  this  point  a  chain  of  mounds  extends  in  a  southwesterly 
direction.  Between  the  westernmost  of  these  and  the  Mississippi 
was  a  group  of  15  small  mounds  all  of  which  are  now  obliterated. 
This  group  appears  on  the  map  of  1876  ;  but  no  data  relating  to 
it  are  known  to  exist.  Judging  by  the  dimension  shown  on  the 
Historical  Society  map  it  is  doubtful  whether  any  mound  of  the 
group  was  more  than  ten  feet  in  height. 

ST.  LOUIS  GROUP. 

During  the  month  of  .June,  1819,  while  the  exploring  party  under 
command  of  Major  Stephen  H.  Long1  was  in  St.  Louis,  a  survey 
was  made  of  the  group  of  twenty-six  mounds  which  at  that  time 
had  not  been  disturbed  (Fig.  4). 


FIG.  5.  MOUNDS  IN  ST.  LOUIS. 

(From  Beck’s  Gazetteer  of  the  States  of  Illinois  and  Mis¬ 
souri,  1823.) 


In  the  published  account  of  the  Long  Expedition  the  field  notes 
of  the  survey  appeared,  and  they  have  been  copied  in  the  report  of 
the  Smithsonian  Institution  for  1861,  page  386. 

1  Account  of  an  Expedition  ...  in  the  years  1819-1820  under  command  of  Major 
Stephen  H.  Long.  Phlla.,  1823.  Vol.  1,  pp.  59-62. 


THE  CAHOKIA  ANT)  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


13 


The  mounds  were  “  situated  on  the  second  bank  just  above  the 
town”1  and  consisted  of  one  group  forming  an  enclosure,  north  of 
which,  distant  1463  feet,9  was  a  large  isolated  mound.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Brackenridge  the  large  mound  was  “about  six  hundred 
yards  above”  the  main  group.  It  is  impossible  to  say  when  the 
smaller  mounds  were  destroyed,  but  the  large  one  was  removed  in 
1869.  An  account  of  the  destruction  of  the  mound  and  a  detailed 
description  of  the  articles  discovered  were  published  by  an  eye¬ 
witness.3 

A  large  cavity  was  discovered  in  the  centre  of  the  mound.  In 
this  cavity  or  chamber  were  many  human  skeletons  and  vast  quan¬ 
tities  of  shell  beads  and  small  perforated  shells.  Some  copper 
objects  and  stone  implements  were  also  found.  The  map  of  the 
group  (Fig.  4)  is  based  upon  Long’s  notes  made  in  1819.  The 
group  as  shown  in  Beck’s  Gazetteer  is  copied  in  Fig.  5. 

Along  the  summit  of  the  river  bluff  northward  from  the  former 
site  of  the  group,  now  a  densely  populated  section  of  St.  Louis, 
are  many  mounds,  some  of  which  remain  in  their  original  condi¬ 
tion.  A  number  of  very  small  low  mounds  still  exist  in  one  of 
the  public  parks  (Map  1,  I).  A  mound  which  contained  many 
human  bones  was  destroyed  in  1894.  It  was  located  on  the  sum¬ 
mit  of  the  bluff  (Map  1,  H).  In  the  extreme  northern  part  of  the 
city  on  the  Glasgow  farm  are  several  small  mounds  (Map  1,  G). 

MOUNDS  IN  FOREST  PARK. 

The  mounds  near  the  River  des  Peres,  to  which  reference  has 
been  made,  were  two  groups,  one  consisting  of  seven,  the  other  of 
nine  small  mounds.  They  were  located  near  the  centre  of  the 
western  half  of  Forest  Park  in  the  city  of  St.  Louis.4 

During  the  autumn  of  1901,  it  became  necessary  to  grade  that 
part  of  the  park  preparatory  to  the  erection  of  certain  buildings  of 
the  Exposition,  and  I  was  enabled  to  explore  the  mounds. 

As  may  be  seen  by  referring  to  the  map  (Fig.  6),  the  groups  were 
distinctly  separate;  the  smaller  group  of  seven  being  located  on  the 
summit  of  the  ridge  or  elevated  ground  to  the  south  of  the  River 

1  Views  of  Louisiana.  Brackenridge.  Pittsburg,  1814,  p.  189. 

2  Long’s  Expedition,  p.  62. 

3  A.  J.  Conant.  Foot  Prints  of  Vanished  Races.  St.  Louis,  1879,  p.  40. 

4  A.  .J.  Conant  in  “Foot  Prints  of  Vanished  Races”  1879,  p.  29,  refers  to  these  mounds  : 
“In  Forest  Park,  a  few  miles  west  of  the  city,  there  is  a  small  group  of  mounds 

which  the  park  commissiouers,  I  am  happy  to  know,  have  resolved  to  preserve.” 


14  THE  CAHdKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


FIG.  6.  MOUNDS  IN  FOREST  PARK,  ST.  LOUIS.  Group  E  on  Map  1. 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS.  16 

des  Peres,  while  the  second  group  was  in  the  lowland  on  the  imme¬ 
diate  bank  of  the  stream.  The  dimensions  of  the  seven  mounds  of 
the  smaller  group  were  as  follows  : 

Mound  A.  Elevation  2.8  feet.  Diameter  44  feet. 

Mound  B.  Elevation  3  feet.  Diameter  46  feet. 

Mound  C.  Elevation  2.3  feet.  Diameter  46  feet. 

Mound  D.  The  greater  part  of  this  mound  had  been  removed 
some  years  ago,  it  is  therefore  impossible  to  state  its  original  ele¬ 
vation.  The  diameter  was  47  feet. 

Mound  E.  Elevation  3.5  feet.  Diameter  49  feet. 

Mound  F.  Elevation  3.2  feet.  Diameter  55  feet.  This  was 
the  largest  mound  in  either  group  (PI.  IV,  Fig.  2). 

Mound  G.  This,  similar  to  Mound  D,  had  been  partly  de¬ 
stroyed.  Its  diameter  was  42  feet. 

Mound  B  was  the  first  explored.  Near  the  centre,  eight  inches 
below  the  surface  and  extending  well  below  the  original  surface, 
were  the  fragmentary  remains  of  three  human  skeletons.  From 
the  position  of  the  bones  it  was  apparent  they  had  been  disturbed 
after  their  original  interment.  No  objects  were  found  in  contact 
with  the  bones,  but  in  other  parts  of  the  mound,  resting  upon  the 
original  surface,  were  many  fragments  of  pottery  and  small  pieces 
of  chipped  chert.  No  complete  objects  were  discovered.  Some 
charcoal  was  also  found  on  the  original  surface.  In  excavating 
mounds  A,  C,  E  and  F,  many  potsherds  and  chips  of  chert,  similar 
to  those  from  mound  B,  were  discovered.  In  the  centre  of  mound 
C  was  much  charcoal  and  ashes,  on  the  original  surface. 

Nothing  of  human  handiwork  was  discovered  in  the  mounds  con¬ 
stituting  the  lower  group. 

Although  these  were  the  only  groups  of  mounds  existing  in  the 
park,  there  were  several  small,  isolated  mounds  in  the  thickly 
wooded  ravine  to  the  south.  These  were  likewise  explored  but  no 
objects  were  discovered. 

The  question  has  often  been  asked  “  for  what  purpose  were 
these  small  mounds,  so  plentiful  throughout  the  Mississippi  Valley, 
erected  ?  ”  One  theory  can  be  readily  disposed  of  —  they  were  not 
burial  mounds.  In  the  case  of  the  seven  mounds  on  the  elevated 
ground,  the  finding  of  potsherds,  pieces  of  chipped  chert  and  the 
indication  of  fire,  all  on  what  appeared  to  have  been  the  original 
surface,  would  point  strongly  to  their  having  been  the  remains  or 
ruins  of  earth  covered  lodges. 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


16 


The  early  explorers  mention  such  Indian  lodges  in  different  parts 
of  the  valley,  and  until  the  last  quarter  of  a  century  villages  of 
such  habitations  were  to  be  found  in  the  upper  Missouri  Valle}7. 

La  Salle,  in  March,  1683,  found  the  Taencas  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Ohio.  Tonti,  referring  to  their  village,  wrote  :  “As  soon  as 
we  landed,  1  was  surpriz’d  to  see  the  Grandure  of  the  Village  and 
the  Order  of  the  Cottages  ;  they  are  plac’d  in  divers  rows, .  .  .  be¬ 
ing  all  made  of  Earth.  .  . 

Charlevoix  in  1721  described  the  habitation  of  the  Natches : 
“Some  of  them  are  built  of  a  sort  of  mud,  which  seemed  tolerably 
good  and  is  covered  outside  and  inside  with  very  thin  mats.”9 

But  in  the  other  mounds  these  indications  did  not  occur.  Clearly 
they  were  erected  as  they  now  exist.  Possibly  they  served  as 
elevated  sites  upon  which  the  habitations  were  placed.  Mounds  of 
this  class  occur  in  vast  numbers  in  certain  sections  of  Missouri, 
more  than  eight  hundred  having  been  counted  within  an  area  of 
le«s  than  ten  miles  in  Dallas  county,  in  the  southwestern  part  of 
that  state.  Near  Iron  Mountain,  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  state, 
more  than  five  hundred  occur  within  a  radius  of  three  miles.  If 
each  mound  was  formerly  the  site  of  a  separate  habitation,  they  iudi  - 
cate  the  existence  of  a  great  population  during  prehistoric  times. 


MOUND  GROUP  NEAR  LONG  LAKE, 

Madison  County,  Illinois. 

The  group  of  eleven  mounds  on  the  north  side  of  Long  Lake  is 
three  and  one-half  miles  east  of  the  Mississippi,  midway  across 
the  American  Bottom,  and  seven  miles  west  of  north  from  the 
Cahokia  mound  (Fig.  7). 

The  largest  mound  was  practically  destroyed  some  years  ago 
when  three  railroads  were  built  through  it.1 2 3  Now  only  small 
portions  remain  between  the  tracks.  During  the  course  of  its 
destruction  many  extraordinary  stone  implements  and  other  ob¬ 
jects  of  interest  were  discovered  ;  but  nearly  all  have  been  lost  or 
scattered.  Many  were  destroyed  in  a  fire  shortly  after  their  dis- 

1  Tonti.  London,  1698.  p.  85. 

2  Charlevoix.  London,  1761.  Vol.  II.  p.  256. 

3  Recent  Archeological  Discoveries  in  the  American  Bottom,  by  Henry  R. 
Howland  in  Bulletin  of  the  Buffalo  Society  of  Natural  Sciences,  Mar..  1S77,  pp.  201-211 . 


THE  CAIIOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


17 


covery.  The  site  of  that  mound  is  shown  by  the  dotted  line  on 
the  extreme  western  side  of  the  map. 

All  the  mounds  of  the  group  have  been  cultivated  for  many 
years,  consequently  it  is  impossible  to  ascertain  their  original  height. 


PIG.  7.  MOUNDS  NORTH  OF  LONG  LAKE,  MADISON  CO.,  ILLINOIS. 
Group  D  on  Map  1. 


The  following  table  will  give  their  dimensions,  etc.,  on  March 
13,  1900,  at  which  time  the  survey  of  the  group  was  made. 


STATION  AT  MOUND  B. 


MOUND. 

DIME1 
E.  W. 
FEET. 

'fSION 

N.  S. 
FEET. 

DISTANCE 

FEET. 

DIRECTION 

ELEVATION 

FEET. 

A 

200 

330 

1200 

N.  87°  W. 

? 

B 

237 

0.3 

C 

115 

245 

N.  11°  30’  E. 

4.8 

D 

247 

577 

N.  52°  30’ E. 

9.3 

E 

207 

970 

S.  83°  30' E. 

10.4 

F 

110 

212 

S.  2"  W. 

4 

G 

150 

125 

572 

S.  45°  30'  E. 

5 

18  THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


STATION  AT  MOUND  G. 


11 

135 

445 

S.  47°  E. 

7.6 

I 

211 

106 

661 

S.  34°  E. 

8.8 

STATION  AT  MOUND 

i. 

224 

284 

N.  67°  E. 

16.4 

K 

122 

300 

N.  29°  E. 

2.4 

Note.  Distances  are  given  from  the  mound  taken  as  a  station. 


At  the  present  time  the  mounds,  with  the  exception  of  one  (G), 
appear  to  be  circular,  although  it  is  possible  they  were  originally 
rectangular  and  the  constant  washing  and  wearing  away  of  the 
plowed  surface  have  caused  them  to  assume  their  present  circular 
form. 

There  are  two  isolated  mounds  on  the  plain,  one  south  the  other 
southwest  of  the  group,  distant  about  one  mile.  The  position  of 
these  is  shown  on  Map  1. 

OBJECTS  DISCOVERED. 

Upon  the  surface  surrounding  the  mounds  as  well  as  in  different 
parts  of  the  bottom,  great  quantities  of  objects  of  pottery,  stone 
and  shell  have  been  found.  These  do  not  differ  essentially  from  the 
various  types  from  other  parts  of  the  valley  and  as  a  whole  show 
a  high  degree  of  workmanship. 

As  the  mounds  of  the  Cahokia  group  have  not  been  explored  it 
is  not  known  what  they  may  contain.  A  few  graves  have  been 
opened  in  which  small  pottery  vessels  and  various  objects  of  stone 
and  shell  have  been  discovered  ;  but,  with  the  exception  of  these, 
all  specimens  thus  far  found  have  been  revealed  by  the  plow. 

The  large  so-called  agricultural  implements  have  often  been 
found.  A  cache  of  such  implements  was  discovered  some  years 
ago  near  the  group  of  small  mounds  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Miss¬ 
issippi.1 

A  large  Catlinite  pipe,  found  in  a  small  mound  1.5  miles 
from  Cahokia,  is  probably  the  most  interesting  specimen  ever  dis- 

1  Chas.  Rau.  Smithsonian  Report  1868,  pp.  401-107. 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


19 


covered  in  that  locality.  It  was  discovered  in  1879  by  a  farmer 
while  making  a  road  through  the  mound.  Unfortunately  it  was 
badly  shattered  by  the  plow,  the  different  parts  became  scattered 
and  many  were  lost.  The  head  of  the  figure  is  missing,  but  the 
parts  remaining  represent  a  human  figure  in  a  kneeling  position, 
leaning  slightly  forward  and  resting  with  the  hands  upon  the  knees. 
The  base  measures  4.5  inches  in  width  by  7  inches  in  length. 
The  pipe  was  discovered  resting  on  a  rectangular  pedestal  of 
sandstone,  in  front  of  which  was  an  altar  of  burnt  clay.  Upon 
this  altar  or  hearth  was  a  large  quantity  of  ashes,  charcoal  and 
burnt  bones.1  This  specimen  is  now  in  the  Missouri  Historical 
Society  of  St.  Louis. 

The  finding  of  catlinite  from  the  quarry  in  the  north  and  shells 
from  the  Gulf  of  Mexico  indicates  either  that  long  journeys  were 
made  by  the  prehistoric  inhabitants  of  the  valley  or  that  those  ob¬ 
jects  were  secured  by  trade  or  conquest. 

THE  BLUFFS  EAST  OF  CAHOKIA. 

The  slope  of  the  bluff  eastward  from  the  mound  group  appears 
to  have  been  one  extensive  burial  ground.  The  great  quantities 
of  human  bones  which  have  been  exposed  by  the  plow,  and  by  the 
washing  and  wearing  away  of  the  surface,  prove  that  a  great  pop¬ 
ulation,  all  traces  of  which  are  rapidly  vanishing,  once  occupied 
that  fertile  region. 

On  the  summit  of  the  bluff,  five  miles  northeast  from  Cahokia, 
are  two  very  perfect  conical  mounds  (Map  1,  F).  The  larger 
(PI.  5,  Fig.  2)  is  about  45  feet  high  and  150  feet  in  diameter.  The 
more  northerly  (PI.  5,  Fig.  1 )  of  the  two  is  somewhat  smaller.  From 
the  summit  of  these  mounds  a  magnificent  panoramic  view  of  the 
American  Bottom  is  obtained.  The  great  mounds  are  clearly  de¬ 
fined  surrounded  by  the  fields  and  homes  of  the  pi’esent  owners  of 
the  lands,  and  beyond,  toward  the  west,  may  be  seen  the  waters  of 
the  Mississippi. 

THE  CAHOKIAS  AND  TAMAOAS. 

The  two  Illinois  Tribes,  Cahokias  andTamaoas  were  often  men¬ 
tioned  by  the  early  explorers  of  the  Valley  of  the  Mississippi. 


1  Letter  dated  Oct.  1,  1879,  from  F.  F.  Hilder  to  Professor  Putnam. 


20 


THE  CAHOKIA  AND  SURROUNDING  MOUND  GROUPS. 


On  the  fourth  day  of  February,  1683,  LaSalle’s  party,  after  having 
sailed  ten  leagues  below  the  mouth  of  the  Missouri,  arrived  at  the 
village  of  the  Tamaoas  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the  Mississippi. 
However,  none  ol  the  Indians  were  seen  as  they  had  gone  to  their 
winter  encampment  in  the  woods.1  Charlevoix,  on  Oct.  10,  1721, 
visited  the  village  of  the  “  Cuoquias  and  Tamarouas ,  two  Illinois 
Tribes  which  have  been  united.”  This  uniting  of  the  two  tribes 
probably  occurred  subsequent  to  the  time  of  La  Salle’s  expedition 
and  may  account  for  the  Cahokias  not  having  been  mentioned  by 
Tonti.  Continuing,  Charlevoix  says:  “This  village  is  situated 
on  a  small  river  which  runs  from  the  east.”2 

In  1720  a  party  of  Tamaroas  were  taken  to  France  and  pre¬ 
sented  to  the  king ;  they  later  returned  to  their  native  village.3 
The  Koakias,  during  the  year  1752,  were  at  war  with  the  Foxes 
which  was  caused  by  the  Koakias  treacherously  murdering  a 
hunting  party  of  the  other  tribe.4 

I  he  site  of  the  ancient  village  of  the  Cahokias  and  Tamaoas  was 
probably  not  far  distant  from  the  present  settlement  which  now 
perpetuates  the  name  of  the  former  tribe.  Near  this  village,  in 
the  year  1769,  Pontiac  was  murdered. 

1  An  Account  of  Monsieur  tie  la  Salle’s  Last  Expedition.  Tonti.  London,  1698, 
p.  77. 

2  Journal  of  a  Voyage  to  North  America.  Charlevoix,  London,  1761.  Vol.  II,  pp. 
'218  ‘219. 

1  Bossu.  Travels,  etc.  English  translation.  London,  1771,  Vol.  I,  p.  140. 

*  Bossu.  Vol.  I,  p.  129. 


CAHOKIA.  LOOKING  WEST. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


CAHOKIA .  LOOKING  NORTHEAST. 


Peabody  IVinseum  Papers. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  PL.  III. 


Fig.  1.  MOUNDS  C  AND  B.  CAHOKIA  GROUP.  LOOKING  SOUTHEAST. 


Fig.  2. 


MOUND  F.  CAHOKIA  GROUP.  LOOKING  EAST. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


Fig.  1. 


MOUND  ONE  AND  SIX-TENTHS  MILES  WEST  OF  CAHOKIA. 


FIG.  2. 


MOUND  IN  FOREST  PARK,  ST.  LOUIS. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  Pl.  V. 


Fig.].  NORTH  MOUND  ON  BLUFF.  F  ON  MAPI.  LOOKING  WEST. 


Fig.  2.  SOUTH  MOUND  ON  BLUFF. 


F  ON  MAP  1. 


LOOKING  NORTHEAST. 


PAPERS 


OF  THE 

PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMEEIOAN  AEOHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HAEVAED  UNIYEESITY- 

Yol.  III.— No.  2 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS, 

COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI 


CHARLES  PEABODY 


WITH  SEVENTEEN  PLATES 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MUSEUM 
June,  1904 


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map,  and  7  text  illustrations,  1904.  75  cents. 

Number  2.  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  Coahoma  County 
Mississippi.  By  Charles  Peabody.  44  pages,  17  plates,  1904.  $1.00. 

(See  page  3  of  cover.) 


PAPERS 


OF  THE 

PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 

Vol.  III.— No.  2 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS, 

COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI 


CHARLES  PEABODY 


WITH  SEVENTEEN  PLATES 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MUSEUM 
June,  1904 


Copyright,  1904. 
Pf.arody  Museum  of  American 

ARCHAEOLOGY'  AND  ETHNOLOGY, 
Harvard  University. 


Salem  IPrcss : 

the  Salem  Press  Co.,  Salem,  Mass. 
1904. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS, 

COAHOMA  COUNTY.  MISSISSIPPI. 

INTRODUCTORY. 

Under  the  auspices  of  the  Peabody  Museum  of  Harvard  Univer¬ 
sity,  an  expedition,  directed  by  Mr.  W.  C.  Farabee  and  the 
writer,  was  sent  out  to  conduct  explorations  in  Coahoma  County, 
Mississippi.  The  work  was  carried  on  continuously  from  May  1 1 , 
to  June  28,  1901,  and  from  May  9  to  July  3,  1902.  Two  mounds 
were  excavated :  one  on  the  plantation  of  Mr.  Ellerton  L.  Dorr, 
Jr.,  at  Clarksdale,  and  one  on  that  of  Mr.  P.  M.  Edwards,  in 
the  town  of  Oliver,  on  the  Sunflower  river,  sixteen  miles  south  of 
Clarksdale.  The  method  of  exploration  in  both  cases  was  the 
same :  that  of  making  successive  cuttings  down  to  the  level  of  the 
surrounding  ground,  and  thus,  by  throwing  the  soil  from  each  new 
cutting  into  that  preceding,  making  possible  a  thorough  exami¬ 
nation  of  the  distance  excavated,  yet  leaving  the  ground  more  or 
less  in  its  original  condition.1  At  each  five  feet,  descriptions  of 
the  wall  of  soil  in  front  of  the  excavators  were  taken  and  for  these 
cross  sections,  reference  may  be  had  to  the  Peabody  Museum 
Laboratory,  where  they  are  filed. 


DORR  MOUND. 

The  excavation  of  the  Dorr  Mound  was  continued  from  May  11 
to  May  18,  1901.  The  surface  measurements  were :  length,  north 
to  south,  90' ;  breadth,  east  to  west,  60'  ;  height,  9'  6|"  above  the 
surrounding  field. 

The  shape  resembled  a  rectangle  with  the  longer  sides  running- 
parallel  northwest  and  southeast.  The  surface  was  covered  with 
rough  grass  and  bushes. 

Near  the  top  ran  a  transverse  trench,  one  foot  two  inches  deep, 
probably  the  result  of  tentative  excavations  previously  made  by 

1  In  connection  with  these  excavations :  in  the  catalogue  of  the  Peabody  Museum 
the  successive  “cuttings”  are  given  the  name  “trenches,”  also  in  the  Maps  and  Plans 
in  the  Laboratory  of  the  Museum. 


(23) 


24  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

the  owners ;  for  further  data,  the  map  in  the  Laboratory  may  be 
consulted.  As  the  objects  found  in  the  mound  were  similar  to 
those  from  the  second  mound,  it  will  be  simpler  to  speak  of  them 
together.  Of  the  skeletons  however,  the  statements  should  be 
made  here.  The  remains  of  fifty  prehistoric  burials  were  found. 
The  burials  lay  scattered  through  the  mound  with  a  greater  num¬ 
ber  in  the  southwest  quadrant.  Their  depth  below  the  surface 
varied  from  one  foot  (No.  7)  to  eight  feet  (No.  29).  As  a  whole 
they  lay  deeper  than  the  surface  burials  of  the  Edwards  Mound. 
Here  follow  the  statistics  of  those  whose  data  were  obtained  : 

Manner  of  burial : 

Intrusive,  1. 

Full  length,  6. 

“Bundle,”1  2. 

With  the  knees  doubled  up  (most  of  these  on  the  side),  8. 

Orientation  by  direction  of  the  skull  ; 

N.  5,  N.  E.  4,  E.  13,  S.  E.  7,  S.  0,  S.  W.  0,  W.  4,N.  W.  1. 

Details  of  accompanying  objects : 

Projectile  Points 

One  on  the  breast  of  skeleton  2. 

One  large  point  in  red  pigment  between  the  skulls  of  skel¬ 
etons  46  and  47. 

Pottery 

Fragments  with  skeletons  3  and  9. 

Fragments  of  three  vases  with  skeleton  7. 

Charcoal  in  small  bits  with  skeletons  3,  9,  13,  and  26  (3). 

The  bones  of  the  intrusive  burial  were  better  preserved  than 
those  of  the  others.  Besides  these  there  were  fifteen  modern 
burials  in  the  mound. 

The  excavation  of  the  mound  was  carried  on  from  the  north, 
east,  and  south  and  a  parallelogram  80'  from  north  to  south  and 
52'  from  east  to  west  was  dug  through  down  to  the  level  of  the 
surrounding  field.  The  soil  varied  from  heavy  sandy  loam  to  the 
very  heavy  alluvial  soil  called  “Buckshot”.  No  soil  foreign  to 
the  district  was  noted.  The  so-called  “Sod-line”  of  dark  soil  two 
inches  to  four  inches  thick  appeared  plainly  at  times  as,  e.  g.,  in 
the  sections  at  stakes  VII,  X,  XI,  XIV,  1  and  3.  The  soil  near 


1  For  “Bundle”  burials  see  references;  foot  note,  page  37. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  25 


the  bottom  of  the  mound  was  wetter  on  the  north  side  than  on  the 
south ;  this  was  due  perhaps  to  the  sun’s  influence,  and  to  the 
drainage  of  the  field  northwestward  into  the  Sunflower  river.  A 
few  shells  were  found,  16'  west  of  stake  VIII,  6'  9"  down. 

With  horses  and  a  scraper  the  mound  was  restored  on  May  1 8th , 
nearly  to  its  original  appearance,  and  cotton  was  immediately 
planted  upon  it.  Four  small  mounds  in  the  neighboring  field  vary 
from  2'  to  5'  in  height.  There  may  have  been  others  whose  traces 
have  disappeared  through  successive  ploughings,  storms  and 
floods. 


EDWARDS  MOUND. 

Oliver,  Coahoma  Co.,  Mississippi,  is  situated  on  the  Sunflower 
river  sixteen  miles  south  of  Clarksdale,  the  county  seat  and  the 
civil  centre  of  the  district.  The  nearest  railway  station  is  Mattson, 
on  the  Greenwood  branch  of  the  Yazoo  and  Mississippi  Valley 
Division  of  the  Illinois  Central  R.R.  Thence  mail  is  brought  twice 
a  week,  on  mule-back  to  Oliver.  The  settlement  of  Oliver  consists 
of  a  series  of  small  plantations,  bordering  the  Sunflower  on  both 
sides,  and  covering  a  space  of  cleared  land,  one-half  mile  east  and 
west  of  the  river.  The  population  is  nearly  equally  divided  be¬ 
tween  negroes  and  white  people.  Friendly  relations  with  both 
were  established  and  continued  unbroken.  To  the  white  planta¬ 
tion  owners  the  thanks  and  acknowledgments  of  the  excavators 
are  due  for  active  assistance  and  sympathetic  interest.  It  may  be 
said  that  while  the  usual  tales  of  great  buried  wealth,  of  “  gold¬ 
hunting,”  and  of  gigantic  extinct  races  were  current,  the  people 
were  of  sufficient  broadness  of  mind  to  put  these  away  at  an  early 
period.  The  land  to  the  east  and  west  of  the  line  of  farms  is  cov¬ 
ered  by  forests  of  cypress,  and  consists  of  an  absolute  plain  broken 
only  by  occasional  ravines  containing  bayous  or  by  lakes.  The 
Sunflower  river  has  by  erosion  and  building  up  constructed  a  ra¬ 
vine,1  with  steep  banks,  30'  in  height  above  the  average  water-level. 
The  water  in  the  spring  sometimes  overflows  even  these  banks. 

The  flood  comes,  save  by  the  breaking  of  the  Mississippi  levee, 
from  down  stream,  starting  at  the  mouth  near  Vicksburg.  The  re¬ 
curring  floods  provide  one  reason  for  mound  building,  though  it  is 
a  debated  question,  whether  great  floods,  covering  whole  counties 


1  See  Plate  VI.  “  Sunflower  river  looking  west  from  the  Camp.” 


26  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

in  area  were  more  or  less  frequent,  deep  and  extensive,  before 
the  building  of  the  Mississippi  levees.  The  same  floods  furnish 
a  very  plausible  excuse  for  those  who  do  not  wish  the  mounds  exca¬ 
vated.  In  time  of  high  water  a  refuge  is  provided  by  them  for 
stock.  At  Oliver  are  the  so-called  “Shoals”  of  the  Sunflower 
River,  where  it  flows  with  a  current  of  four  miles  an  hour  for  sev¬ 
eral  hundred  feet  over  a  pebbly  bottom  of  small  flinty  stones. 
The  existence  of  this  stratum  of  gravel, which  extends  about  three 
feet  above  low  water,  is  the  probable  cause  of  the  large  village 
site  which  lies  on  both  sides  of  the  river.  The  stream,  whose 
general  course  is  north  and  south  parallel  to  the  Mississippi,  here 
runs  nearly  east  and  west,  and  in  descriptions,  that  direction  of 
flow  will  be  assumed.  North  of  the  Sunflower  are  at  least  three 
mounds  ;  south  of  it  are  nineteen  small  mounds  and  the  large 
mound  or  Edwards  mound  proper.  Originally  there  were  more 
which  have  been  reduced  by  successive  ploughing  and  floods. 
One  mound(No.  4),  visible  in  1901,  was  invisible  in  1902 (compare 
Map  Plate  VII). 

The  builders  of  these  mounds  are  not  known.  The  entire 
region  is  included  in  the  district  from  which  the  Choctaws  were 
obliged  to  move  by  the  Land  Cession  of  September  27  and  28, 
1830.'  Admitting  that  the  Indians  of  the  Choctaw  gentes  built 
mounds,9  we  can  establish  a  later  limit.  The  centuries  of  history 
and  “pre-history”  before  this  gave  us  no  light.  Articles  of  Euro¬ 
pean  or  white-man  manufacture,  if  found,  not  intrusive,  in  the 
mound,  establish  that  part  of  the  mound  as  post-Columbian, 
and  probably  of  a  period  since  DeSoto  passed  near  in  1541.1 2  3  In 
the  case  of  the  Edwards  mound,  it  is  possible  that  its  construction 
was  continued  at  more  than  one  period. 

But  little  serious  archaeological  work  has  been  done  in  northern 
Mississippi.  Visits  to  Coahoma  and  neighboring  counties  were 
made  by  Col.  P.  W.  Norris  and  Professor  W.  H.  Holmes,4  and 
some  excavations  undertaken.  From  the  report  from  Sunflower 
County,5  a  mound  was  discovered  and  described  that  may  be  the 
Edwards  mound.  The  reasons  for  this  view  are,  first,  the  nearly 

1  Royce,  Charles  C.:  Report  of  the  Bureau  of  Ethnology,  1896-7.  Part  2,  No.  166 

(Map),  pages  726-7. 

2  Brinton,  D.  G.:  American  Race,  pages  86-7. 

3  Fiske:  Discovery  of  America,  II,  page  610. 

4  Rep.  Bur.  Eth. :  12,  ’90-’91,  p.  253  ff. 

6  Rep.  Bur.  Eth. :  12,  ’90-’91,  p.  258  ff . 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  27 


similar  dimensions;  second,  its  position  near  the  Shoals  of  the 
Sunflower  river ;  and  third,  the  lack  of  information  obtainable 
about  any  other  Shoals.  The  reasons  against  identity  are,  first, 
that  the  report  places  it  in  Sunflower  County,  and  the  Edwards 
mound  is  in  Coahoma  County  ;  second,  the  apex  of  the  Edwards 
mound  was  near  the  west  end,  that  of  the  mound  of  the  report, 
near  the  east ;  third,  there  is  no  trace  on  the  Edwards  mound  of 
the  white  oak  six  feet  in  diameter  mentioned  in  the  report;  and, 
fourth,  the  lack  of  information  obtainable  as  to  the  expedition 
from  the  “oldest  inhabitant.”  It  seems  probable  that  the  mound 
was  not  touched  by  the  Smithsonian  expedition.  In  any  case 
their  excavations  were  not  carried  to  any  great  extent. 

Some  digging  near  the  mound  had  been  done  by  Mr.  Charles  W. 
Clark,  of  Clarksdale,  to  whose  interest  and  courteous  assistance 
the  writer  is  entirely  indebted  for  his  knowledge  of  the  mound 
and  the  opportunity  of  exploring  it. 

Mr.  Clark  has  at  his  home  in  Clarksdale  a  valuable  represent¬ 
ative  collection  of  Mississippi  specimens,  gathered  in  great  part 
by  his  own  personal  researches.  Save  for  his  intellectual  interest 
and  for  the  enthusiasm  displayed  by  Captain  Fontaine  of  Lyon, 
Mississippi,  few  results  have  been  obtained  or  researches  under¬ 
taken  in  that  region. 

Surface  specimens  were  abundant  and  good.  Arrow-  and  spear- 
points  and  knives  of  flint  of  fine  workmanship  were  scattered 
about  by  the  hundreds,  and  knives,  celts,  and  other  stone  imple¬ 
ments,  discs  and  sherds  of  pottery  were  picked  up  in  great 
numbers. 

The  natural  soil  containing  no  stone,  any  found  there  has  nec¬ 
essarily  been  brought  in  by  some  agency,  and  as  floods  carry  little 
stone  to  this  level,  the  presumption  is  in  favor  of  human  handling, 
a  position  strengthened  by  the  absolute  lack  of  stone  of  any  kind 
in  the  soil  save  where  traces  of  mounds  could  be  seen.  Excava¬ 
tions  were  carried  on  here  from  May  17  to  June  28,  1901,  and 
from  May  9  to  July  3,  1902.  The  working  force  varied  with  the 
conditions  of  the  labor  market  and  general  health,  from  six  men 
to  fifteen  men,  under  the  same  excellent  foreman  in  both  years, 
B.  S.  Brockman.  The  men  were  negroes  and  good  workmen. 
The  crew  and  the  excavating  party  each  had  a  cook,  and  the  ser¬ 
vices  of  a  water-boy  were  required.  Tents  were  the  quarters  for 


28  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

the  first  year,  a  cabin  for  the  second.  The  system  of  excavating 
was  that  practised  by  the  Peabody  Museum  and  described  above, 
—  complete  examination  by  slicing,  and  reports  made  by  graphic 
cross-sections  of  the  mound  at  parallel  distances  of  five  feet, 
(Plates  VIII  and  IX.)  In  this  wav  a  space  in  the  mound  was  dug 
through  dowu  to  the  original  level  of  the  field  :  a  space  which  may 
be  represented  by  three  rectangles. 


The  rectangles  are  represented  as  looked  upon  from  above :  the 
sizes  are  from  surface  measurements:  A  (eastern)  (1901)  105' 
x  10',  B(middle)  (1901)  95'x  55',  C ( western)  (1902)  65' x  80/ 

Rectangle  A  covered  1050  sq.  feet,  average  depth  7  feet,  equals 
7350  cu.  feet. 

Rectangle  B  covered  5225  sq.  feet,  average  depth  10  feet,  equals 
52250  cu.  feet. 

Rectangle  C  covered  5200  sq.  feet,  average  depth  11  feet, 
equals  57200  cu.  feet. 

The  total  surface  11475  sq.  feet,  total  116800  cu.  feet. 

At  times  the  height  of  the  mound  made  three  terraces  neces¬ 
sary  to  provide  for  the  disposal  of  the  excavated  soil,  and  to  pre¬ 
vent  landslides. 

Excavations  on  a  small  and  informal  scale  were  made  in  the 
Cemetery  mound1  (No.  3),  by  Mr.  Farabee :  tentative  digging 
was  tried  elsewhere.  Three  pits  to  determine,  if  possible,  the 
continuance  of  the  “Sod-line”  were  dug  (A,  B,  and  C)  and  trips 
to  sites  at  greater  distances  were  undertaken  by  Mr.  Farabee. 

The  surface  measurements  of  the  Edwards  Mound  were :  length 
from  north  to  south  190',  length  from  east  to  west  180',  distance 
from  apex  to  northern  boundary  97',  distance  from  apex  to  east¬ 
ern  boundary  102',  distance  from  apex  to  southern  boundary  93', 
distance  from  apex  to  western  boundary  78',  perpendicular  height 
of  the  apex  above  the  average  level  of  the  surrounding  field  26'. 


1  See  the  Map,  Flate  VII. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  29 

The  deepest  excavation  on  May  17,  1902,  was  2U  in  four  per¬ 
pendicular  terraces ;  the  discrepancy  may  be  explained  by  the 
roughness  of  the  field  methods  of  measuring  surface  altitudes 
and  by  the  lowering  of  the  surrounding  levels  by  erosion.  The 
mound  was  therefore  quite  symmetrical  on  the  major  or  north  and 
south  axis,  but  distinctly  steeper  on  the  western  end  of  the  minor 
or  east  and  west  axis.  To  facilitate  tbe  determination  of  position 
a  row  of  stakes  was  set  upon  the  east  and  west  axis  at  intervals 
of  five  feet,  numbered  in  Arabic  numerals,  from  zero  to  thirty-six. 

At  the  same  time  along  each  successive  cutting  at  intervals  of 
five  feet,  stakes  were  set  northward  from  the  east  and  west  axis 
lettered  from  A  to  K  and  southward  from  L  to  U.  Using  these 
lines  as  coordinates,  the  exact  position  of  any  object  can  be  given. 
The  first  cutting  lay  between  stakes  2  and  3,  and  from  K  to  U  ; 
cutting  two,  from  stakes  3  to  4,  etc.  The  mound  had  been 
ploughed  over  on  the  eastern  slope  three  quarters  of  the  distance 
to  the  top.  Elsewhere  it  was  covered  with  a  growth  of  shrubs, 
and  small  trees ;  the  absence  of  large  stumps  or  other  surface 
indication  of  age  was  to  be  noted. 

A  China- berry  tree,  growing  near  the  middle  on  the  south  side, 
was  left  in  situ.  The  mound  was  composed  of  material  obtained 
in  the  neighborhood.  Sandy  loam,  a  more  tenacious  clay  known 
as  “  gumbo  ”  and  a  still  more  tenacious  clay  called  “  buckshot  ” 
were  used  in  the  building  and  formed  the  principal  strata.  Through¬ 
out  the  mound  were  other  strata,  pockets,  pits,  lines,  and  traces 
of  ashes,  charcoal,  burnt  clay  and  shell.  No  stone  whatever  con¬ 
structively  used  occurred. 

The  long  irregular  depressions  in  the  surrounding  fields  may 
have  been  formed  originally  by  taking  the  soil  for  building,  and 
rain  and  ploughing  have  since  lowered  these  hollows  till  their  sig¬ 
nificance  has  vanished.  Searching  the  fields  and  woods  near  by 
failed  to  reveal  large  pits,  such  as  are  in  evidence  near  the  Carson 
group  of  mounds  in  the  same  County.1 

•  Strata. 

The  so-called  “  Sod-line,”  a  stratum  of  dark  soil,  varying 
from  a  few  inches  to  less  than  a  foot  in  thickness,  remained  con- 


See  Rep.  Bur.  Eth.:  12,  1890-91,  pp.253  If. 


30  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


stunt  from  the  section  at  stake  4  to  that  at  stake  31.  Towards 
and  at  the  west  side,  of  the  mound,  the  “  Sod-line  ”  had  occasion¬ 
ally  variations  of  level  of  small  significance.  To  determine  the 
further  extent  of  this  stratum,  a  trench  was  dug  running  west, 
from  the  line  of  stake  28  at  Q.  At  a  distance  of  fourteen  feet 
west  of  Q,  the  “  Sod-line  ”  became  indistinct,  and  vanished  at 
thirty  feet  west  of  Q,  where  the  level  of  the  field  becomes  almost 
constant. 

For  the  same  purpose  pits  were  dug  as  noted  above  to  the  east¬ 
ward  as  follows : 

Pit  A  35'  east  of  the  line  of  stake  0  at  N,  contained  a  layer 
of  dark  soil,  one  foot  down,  V  thick. 

Pit  B,  175'  east  of  the  line  of  stake  0  at  N,  layer  of  soil  5 
inches  down  and  V  2"  thick. 

Pit  C,  262'  east  of  the  line  of  stake  0  atN,  layer  of  dark  soil 
6  inches  down  and  1  2"  thick. 

From  the  thickness  of  this  and  its  nearness  to  the  surface  it 
seems  that,  in  comparison  with  the  “  Sod-line  ”  on  the  west  side 
which  vanishes  at  a  depth  of  two  feet,  there  is  no  necessary  con¬ 
nection  between  them.  The  “  Sod-line  ”  may  therefore  be  assumed 
to  be  a  part  of  the  mound  proper  and  the  bottom  of  it,  though  be¬ 
low  the  “sod-line”  were  found  occasional  objects  and  pockets 


as  follows : 

Intrusion  of  black  soil  ....  at  stake  7  B/C 

Ashes . “  “  11  R/S  &T 

Ashes  and  shells . “  “  18  18/L 

Earth,  charcoal  and  shells  ( V  6"  below)  “  19/L 

A  chipped  stone  ( F  below)  .  .  “  “  20  C 

Charcoal,  shells  and  potsherd  .  .  “  “  24  C  &  E 

Ashes  and  charcoal . “  “  25  A/25  &  O/P 

Shells,  ashes  and  charcoal  .  .  “  “  26,  L 

Charcoal . “  “  28,  M  &  L 


In  the  “  Sod-line  ”  was  a  well  defined  and  very  compact  stratum 
of  mussel  shells,  several  inches  thick,  beginning  at  section  at  stake 
10  (C  to  M)  continuing  through  that  at  16  (A  to  M)  disappear¬ 
ing  between  the  sections  at  26  and  that  at  27.  The  greatest  length, 
from  north  to  south  was  thirty  feet,  from  east  to  west,  eighty  feet. 

Next  in  importance  to  the  “  Sod  line”  was  a  stratum  of  y  low 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  31 


“Buckshot  ”  denoted  by  stratum  A  in  the  sections,  lying  above 
a  stratum  of  dark  loose  soil  with  ashes  and  charcoal,  denoted 
stratum  B. 

Their  positions  are  as  follows  at  the  various  cross-sections  taken  : 


STRATUM  A 

STRATUM  11 

SECTION 

AT 

STAKE 

HEIGHT  OF  TOP  OF 
STRATUM  A  ABOVE 
THE  “SOD-LINE” 

EXTENT, 

THICK- 

POSITION  OF  TOP 

EXTENT , 

THICK- 

STAKES 

NESS 

OF  STRATUM  B 

STAKES 

NESS 

10 

4'  6”  to  9'  6” 

J  to  Q 

i' 

6’  to  7'  above  “S-l.” 

11 

7'  to  9' 

E  to  Q 

i' 

Under  Str.  A 

C  to  M 

i' 

12 

8'  6"  to  10' 

E  to  R 

i' 

Under  Str.  A 

D  to  R 

1’  to  2' 

13 

7' 6”  to  9’ 6" 

E  to  S 

1'  to  3' 

Under  Str.  A 

E  to  R 

6"  to  1'  6" 

14 

9'  to  11' 

F  to  R 

1’  to  3' 

Interrupted,  A-N 

F  to  R 

6"  to  1’ 

15 

Omitted  in  Sections 

16 

10' 

G  to  Q 

1'  to  2' 

Under  Str.  A 

G  to  Q 

8 "  to  2 ' 

17 

8’  6"  to  10' 

G  to  Q 

1  to  3' 

“  “  “ 

G  to  Q 

6”  to  2'  6' 

18 

9'  6"  to  10' 

G  to  Q 

1'  to  3' 

“  “  “ 

G  to  Q 

1"  to  2’ 

19 

9'  to  10' 

G  to  Q 

1'  to  1'  6" 

“  “  “ 

G  to  Q 

6"  to  2' 

20 

9'  to  10' 

G  to  P 

6"  to  2' 

“  “  “ 

G  to  P 

1’  to  2’ 

21 

9'  to  10' 

G  to  P 

1'  to  2' 

Irregular 

G  to  P 

6  '  to  3’ 

22 

8’  6”  to  10'  6” 

G  to  P 

l'tol'6” 

Under  Str.  A 

G  to  P 

2'  to  3' 

23 

9’  to  10’ 

G  to  Q 

6”  to  2' 

“  “  “ 

G  to  Q 

6”  to  2’ 

24 

Interrupted 

6”  to  1*6" 

7'  6"  to  10’ 

G  to  Q 

Under  Str.  A 

G  to  Q 

6"  to  2'  6' ' 

25 

7'  to  10’  6" 

G  to  Q 

6"  tol'6" 

Interrupted 

G  to  Q 

1'  to  2’ 

26 

7'  to  9'  6" 

G  to  O 

6"  to  1' 

Under  Str.  A 

G  to  Q 

1’  to  3’  6" 

27 

5'  5”  to  7’ 

C  to  P 

6”  to  1' 

. | 

A  to  Q 

1'  i 

Summary  of  stratum  A  : 

Top  above  “Sod-line”,  four  feet  six  inches  to  eleven  feet. 
Thickness,  six  inches  to  three  feet. 

It  extends  practically  across  the  excavation  north  and  south, 
and  from  stake  10  to  stake  27  east  and  west. 

It  rises  from  the  east  and  west  towards  the  middle. 

Near  stake  10,  stratum  A  was  two  feet  to  five  feet  below 
the  surface. 

Near  stake  21,  it  was  three  feet  to  ten  feet  below  the  surface. 


32  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

Near  stake  27,  it  was  one  foot  to  two  feet  six  inches  below  the 
surface. 

Summary  of  stratum  B  : 

Position,  directly  under  stratum  A. 

Thickness,  one  inch  to  three  feet. 

Extent,  nearly  identical  with  that  of  stratum  A. 

In  the  section  at  21,  stratum  A  has  retained  the  irregular  con¬ 
tour  line,  that  would  be  produced,  by  the  throwing  on  of  the  soil 
from  baskets :  the  size  of  the  lumps  is  also  suggestive  of  this. 

Shells  were  numerous  in  the  northern  eastern  portion  of  the 
mound.  Burnt  clay  in  strata  or  nuggets  was  abundant  through¬ 
out,  especially  near  the  surface. 

Intrusions  properly  so  called  were  not  numerous.  The  largest 
occurred  in  the  line  of  stake  20,  under  stake  A.  Its  top  was  2 
feet  below  the  surface ;  its  depth  6  feet,  its  north  and  south  di¬ 
ameter  8  feet,  its  east  and  west  diameter  possibly  6  feet.  It  had 
within  hard  soil  with  a  perpendicular  layer  of  burnt  clay  to  the 
south,  and  less  to  the  north.  There  was  charcoal  on  the  bottom  and 
to  the  north  of  the  centre.  Another  intrusion  occurred  in  section 
11  near  stake  A.  Its  top  was  1  foot  below  the  surface,  its  depth 
4  feet,  its  diameter  3  feet.  It  contained  some  wood  or  bark. 

Pottery  fragments  and  animal  bones  were  more  numerous  above 
strata  A  and  B  than  below,  and  in  the  eastern  half  of  the  mound 
than  in  the  western.  Burials  and  unbroken  pottery  were  more 
frequent  on  the  western  slope,  and  holes  in  the  eastern  half. 

Holes. 

The  characteristic  feature  of  the  Edwards  mound  was  formed 
by  the  holes  that  occurred  in  great  numbers,  and  one  hundred 
and  ninety  one  of  these  were  found  and  measured  during  the  two 
years’  work.  Details  and  statistics  may  be  seen  in  the  field  notes. 
They  were  found  from  cutting  1  to  cutting  24  and  from  letter  J 
to  letter  T.  Their  greatest  abundance  was  from  cuttings  9  to  13 
16  to  18  and  20  to  22.  They  ranged  from  1"  in  diameter(No.  168) 
to  2'  10"  in  diameter  (No.  99). 

From  6"  down  at  the  top  (No.  5)  to  15'  3"  (No.  52). 

From  8"  in  length  (Nos.  65  and  116)  to  b'  b"  (No.  177). 

They  were  usually  perpendicular :  otherwise  the  base  trended 
indifferently  to  the  north,  east,  south  or  west.  The  great  major- 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  33 


ity  of  them  were  empty  or  with  an  accumulation  of  soft  soil  at  the 
bottom.  The  damp  tenacious  soil  of  the  river  bottom  is  such  as 
to  continue  indefinitely  shapes  or  cavities  imposed  in  or  on  it. 
The  holes  not  empty  were  usually  of  larger  diameter,  and  could 
otherwise  be  distinguished  from  the  greater  number. 

Details  of  contents : 

Nos.  4,  5,  7,  10,  13,  71,  95,  96,  97,  99,  104,  116,  159,  162  and 
163  contained  charcoal.  Of  these  Nos.  7,  10,  13,  159,  162  and 
163,  contained  charcoal  edges  or  charcoal  near  the  side. 

No.  71  contained  charcoal  over  wood  as  of  a  burnt  post. 

No.  95,  charcoal  and  decayed  wood. 

No.  99,  charcoal  three  inches  thick  with  a  perpendicular  grain, 
accompanied  by  decayed  wood. 

No.  116,  contained  a  charred  post. 

No.  2,  pottery  and  stone. 

No.  10,  shells. 

Nos.  2,  4,  97,  98,  106,  ashes. 

No.  96,  burnt  clay. 

No.  7  (a  wide  shallow  hole),  corn  in  considerable  quantity  at 
the  bottom. 

Nos.  87,  88,  and  89,  designated  “  wood  holes,”  had  contents  as 
follows  : 

No.  87,  charred  wood  on  northern  edge,  the  wood  being  burned 
on  the  outside  and  on  the  top  of  sticks  ;  also  blue  ashes  and  loose 
earth. 

No.  88,  large  broken  bones,  snail-shells,  wood,  blue  ashes  and 
loose  earth. 

No.  89,  wood  charred  at  the  top,  blue  ashes  and  loose  earth. 

More  significant  than  the  size  or  contents  of  the  holes  was  the 
level  of  the  tops.  Considering  strata  A  and  B  as  forming  a 
critical  level  (produced  slightly  southeast  of  the  limits  of  the 
strata  given  above)  we  have  : 

Total  number  holes,  ......  191. 

Holes  whose  tops  are  at  or  near  the  ‘‘critical  level,”  106. 

Holes  whose  tops  were  at  or  near  stratum  B,  .  .  73. 

These  73  holes  when  plotted  on  the  map  suggest  a  rude  circle, 
with  a  centre  not  far  from  stake  16.  The  southwest  circumfer¬ 
ence  is  incomplete  owing  to  a  lack  of  excavation.  Now,  while  to 
reach  an  absolute  low  level,  the  row  of  stakes  with  arabic  numbers 


34  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

was  continued  westward  to  No.  36,  the  ground  hardly  begins  to 
rise  towards  the  east  till  stake  32  is  reached.  A  geographical 
middle  line  of  the  mound  would  therefore  not  be  far  from  stake 
16.  We  have  then  :  the  apex  of  the  actual  mound  was  perpendicu¬ 
larly  above  a  point  between  the  rows  of  stakes  20  and  21. 

The  geographical  centre  of  the  ground  plan  of  the  mound  is  near 
stake  1  6. 

The  centre  of  the  circle  described  by  the  holes  is  near  stake  16. 
A  corresponding  calculation  north  and  south  is  not  feasible,  as 
the  sides  were  not  cut  away  ;  the  centre  of  the  circle  of  holes  seems 
to  have  been  south  of  the  line  of  the  apex,  and  of  the  geographi¬ 
cal  centre. 

We  have  further  as  above  :  holes  whose  tops  were  at  or  near 
the  level  of  stratum  B,  73. 

Of  these  there  are  included  within  limits  of  stratum  A  or  B,  65. 

Holes  outside  the  limits  of  stratum  A  or  B,  8. 

On  the  northeast,  east  and  southeast,  the  holes  followed  fairly 
closely  the  boundary  lines  of  the  two  strata;  on  the  west,  they 
fell  well  inside.  The  holes  otherwise  were  exceedingly  irregular 
and  were  present  in  very  great  abundance  in  the  southeast  portion 
of  the  mound. 

The  Burials. 

In  the  Edwards  mound  were  discovered  and  noted,  158  burials. 
In  many  cases  the  skull  when  taken  out  was  found  not  worth  pre¬ 
serving.  The  weight  of  the  damp  earth  often  crushed  and  broke 
the  boues.  Otherwise  the  larger  and  stronger  bones  were  in  a 
better  state  of  preservation  than  at  Clarksdale.  When  buried  in 
the  so-called  “  gumbo”  or  “  buckshot,”  to  excavate  the  skeletons 
even  with  a  trowel  was  a  matter  of  some  difficulty  and  not  always 
of  success.  Burials  were  very  numerous  on  the  western  slope  of 
the  mound  from  the  line  of  stake  22,  to  that  of  stake  28.  No 
regularity  as  to  their  position  in  the  mound  was  observed,  nor  any 
reason  for  their  greater  frequency  towards  the  south  and  west. 
The  statistics  of  the  burials  follow,  according  to  their  form,  whether 
the  so-called  “bundle”  burials  or  the  full  length  burials.1  The 
impossibility  of  determination  and  a  greater  detail  of  recording 
during  the  second  year  account  for  the  large  number  occurring  in 
the  “  undetermined  ”  column. 


1  See  reference  p.  37. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  35 


I.  ORIENTATION  OF  “BUNDLE”  BURIALS. 


Bundles  lying 

Skull  at 

or  near  what  end  or  side : 

N.  and  S . 

21 

N.  .  .  . 

.  .  8 

S . 

.  .  14 

Above  . 

1 

E.  and  W.  .  .  . 

43 

N.  E.  . 

.  .  4 

s.  w.  .  . 

.  .  2 

Near  Middle  . 

6 

N.  E.  and  S.  W. 

10 

E.  .  .  . 

w . 

.  .  18 

Underneath  . 

6 

N.  W.  and  S.  E. 

7 

S.  E.  . 

.  .  7 

N.  W.  .  . 

.  .  6 

Undetermined 

13 

Perpendicular 

i 

55 

40 

20 

Undetermined  37  Total  121,  less  repetitions  (2)  119 


Total  119 


Of  the  21  N.  and  S.  Bundles 

Of  the  43  E.  and  W. 

Bundles 

The  skull  was  at  end  as  follows  : 

The  skull  lay  at  end  or  side  as  follows 

N.  .  . 

.  4 

N . 

.  .  1 

E.  .  . 

2 

E . 

.  .  28 

S.  .  . 

.  9 

S . 

.  .  1 

w. .  . 

.  1 

W . 

.  .  8 

N.  W. 

.  1 

Middle  .  . 

.  .  1 

U.i  .  . 

.  4 

Undetermined  4 

Total 

21 

Total 

43 

Of  the  10  N.  E.  and  S.  W.  Bundles 

Of  the  7  N.  VV.  and  S.  E.  Bundles 

The  skull  lay  in  positiou  as  follows : 

The  skull  lav  as  follows: 

N. 

N . 

.  0 

E. 

. 2 

E . 

.  1 

S. 

. 1 

S . 

■  0  « 

W. 

. . 2 

w  .... 

.  0 

N. 

E . 1 

N.  W.  .  . 

.  2 

Middle . 1 

S.  E  .  .  . 

.  3 

Underneath  .  .  1 

Undetermined  . 

.  1 

Total  10 

Total  7 

ORIENTATION  OF  SKULLS,  “BUNDLE”  BURIALS. 

The  skulls  faced :  Burials  with  the  skulls  facing  away  from 


N.  or  N.E.  .  .  . 

.  19 

the  bundle  or  with  the  top  of  skull  to- 

E.  orS.  E.  .  .  . 

.  14 

wards  the  bundle : 

S.  or  S.  W  .  .  . 

.  6 

14.  .  .  .  viz.  Nos.  16,  28,  45,  105,  109, 110, 

W.  orN.  W.  . 

.  11 

117,  129,  131,  143,  150,  153,  156?,  157. 

Upwards.  .  .  . 

.  13 

Downwards  .  . 

.  15 

Undetermined. 

.  41 

Total 

119 

DEPTHS  OF  BURIALS. 

Least  depth  (No.  139)  8” 

Greatest  depth  Nos.  72/3,  5’ 


Less  than  3'  93 

3’  or  more  down  . 18 

“Not  deep” . 6 

Undetermined . 2 

Total  119 


VASES  or  pottery  were  found  with  41  burials. 


1  U.  Undetermined. 


3G  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


ORIENTATION  OF  BURIALS  OF  FULL-LENGTH  TYPE. 


Burials  extending 
N.  and  S . 

.  14 

Of  the  14  N 

and  S.  burials 

E.  and  VV.  .  .  . 

.  13 

skull  at  or  near  what  end  or  side 

N.  E.  and  S.  W. 

.  1 

N.  .  . 

3 

N.  W.  and  S.  E. 

.  5 

E.  .  . 

0 

Undetermined. 

2 

S.  .  . 

11 

— 

VV .  .  . 

0 

Total 

35 

— 

Total 

14 

Skulls  at  or 

near  what  end  or  side : 

Of  the  1  N.  E.  and  S.  VV. 

burial 

Of  the  13  E. 

and  VV.  burials 

The  skull  was  over  N.  E.  end 

.  .  1 

N.  .  .  . 

.  0 

E.  .  .  . 

.  9 

1  >f  the  5  N.  VV.  and  S.  E. 

burials 

s.  .  .  . 

.  0 

The  skulls  were 

VV.  .  .  . 

.  3 

N.  VV . 

.  4 

S.  E.  .  . 

.  1 

S.  E . 

Total 

13 

Total 

5 

Irregular: 

In  Skeleton  116  the  top  of 

the  skull  was  upwards  am 

l  the  face 

turned 

toward  the  remainder  of  the  skeleton. 
Skeleton  35  was  without  skull. 


POSITION  OF  SKELETONS  FULL  LENGTH  : 


On  Back  . 

( >n  Face . 

.  3 

On  Right  Side.  . 

.  0 

On  LeftSide.  .  . 

.  1 

Undetermined.  . 

.  8 

Total 

35 

DEPTH  OF  BURIALS  : 

Least  Depth  8"  (No.  146) 

Greatest  Depth  15’2”(Nos.  58(1,  2,3)) 


Less  than  3' .  9 

3"  or  more  down  ...  26 

In  or  below  critical  level  19 
Vases  or  pottery  found  with  6 


DATE  DEPTH 

No.  11  June  5,  1UU1  4'  2" 


IRREGULAR  BURIALS 
POSITION 

3' 0"  E  of  E.  “Flexed”  on  back  with  legs  doubled 
Cutting  8.  up  and  running  N.  E.  from  the  spine 
Skull  at  S.  end,  top  to  S.  facing  up. 
Accompanied  by  charcoal. 


No.  14  Juue  15, 1901  1 ' 2 "  1’ S.  of  1).  “  Scissors-shape  ”  E.  and  W.1  Legs 

Cutting  11.  folded  at  full  length  on  top  of  the 
body.  Skull  E.  of  centre,  top  to  E- 
facing  up.  Accompanied  by  a  brass 
bell  in  former  contact  with  the  skull. 


No.  35  May  23,  1902  3’ 

(Included  in  full  length 
burials) 


1'  1”  E.  of  F .  No  skull.  Accompanied  by  five  arrow 
Cutting  18.  points,  as  follows: 

( )n  the  right  side. 

Ajiu  rigbUpelvis 

B  by  back  bone 

C  among  ribs 

D  between  ribs,  left  side,  pointing 
under  back  bone 

E  between  the  spines  of  back  bone, 
right  side,  point  upward ;  not  in 
deep  enough  to  have  penetrated 
spinal  cord. 


1  See  Plate  X,  “  Skeleton  14.” 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  37 


No.  362  May  27,  1902  1’ 


2’  E.  of  L.  “  Bundle,”  but  arms  and  legs  contin- 
Cuttlng  19.  uous.  E.  and  W.  Skull  at  E.  end 

facing  up. 


No.  49  June  3,  1902  5' 9" 


1’  3' '  E.  of  L.  “  Sitting  Posture.  ” 

1’  8”  S.  of  L.  Skull  on  back  to  S.  E.1 
Cutting  20. 


BURIALS2:  SUMMARY. 


Burials  of  the  so-called  “Bundle”  Type . 119 

“  “  “  “  “Full-length”  type.  ...  35 

“  “  “  “  Irregular .  4 

Total  158 


ORIENTATION  OF  “  BUNDLE”  BURIALS. 

Of  the  82  which  were  determined  there  lay 

N.  and  S . 21  or  25.6$ 

E.  and  W . 43  or  52.4$ 

N.  E.  and  S.  W.  .  .  10  or  12.2$ 

N.  W.  and  S.  E.  .  .  7  or  8.5$ 

Perpendicular.  .  .  1  or  1.2$ 

Total  82  99.9$ 

Of  the  106  determined,  the  skull  lay  at  or  near  the  East  end  in  36  cases  or  34$ 

Of  the  43  E.  and  W.  bundles  there  were  with  the  skull  at  or  near  the  E.  end  28  or  65.1$ 
Of  the  119  “Bundle”  burials,  vases  or  pottery  were  found  with  41  or  34.5$ 

Of  the  111  determined  “Bundle”  burials  there  were  less  than  3'  down  93  or  83.8$ 

ORIENTATION  OF  “FULL  LENGTH”  BURIALS. 

Of  the  33  determined  cases  there  were 

N.  and  S . 14  or  42.4$ 

E.  and  \Y . 13  or  39.4$ 

N.  E.  and  S.  W.  .  1  or  3  $ 

N.  W.  and  S.E.  .  5  or  15.2$ 

Total  33  100.0$ 

Of  the  14  N.  and  S.  burials  there  were  with  the  skull  at  the  S.  end  11  or  78.6$. 

Of  the  13  east  and  west  burials,  there  were  with  the  skull  at  the  east  end,  9  or  69.2$. 

Eastern  orientation  is  better  carried  out  on  the  whole  in  the  class  of  “bundle  ” 
burials  than  in  that  of  full  length. 

Of  thirty-five  full  length  burials  there  were  three  feet  or  more  down,  26  or  74.8$. 

Of  thirty-five  full  length  burials,  there  were  below  the  critical  level,  19  or  54  3$ 

Of  thirty-five  full  length  burials,  vases  or  pottery  were  found  with,  6  or  17.1$. 


Objects  found  during  the  Excavations. 

All  specimens  found  during  the  two  years  in  Coahoma  County, 
Mississippi,  will  be  considered  as  a  whole,  whether  from  the  sur- 

1  See  Bureau  Eth.  Rep.  I,  p.  121  (J.  M.  Spainhour,  quoted  by  Yarrow) ;  Jones,  C. 
C. :  Antiq.  So.  Inds.  p.  184;  Thomas,  C. :  Bur.  Eth.  Rep.  V,  p.  14. 

2  For  “Bundle  ’’burials  See  Bur.  Eth.  Rep.  1,  p.  169,  where  Yarrow  quotes  Bar- 
tram  “Travels,”  p.516,  Choctaws;  Morgan:  “League  of  the  Iroquois”  p.  173.  See 
Plate  XI,  “Skeleton  12.” 


38  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

face  or  below  it,  and  whether  from  the  Edwards,  Dorr  or  other 
mounds.  In  cases  of  importance  the  provenance  will  be  noted. 

ARTICLES  OF  CLAY. 

Following  the  method  used  in  describing  the  holes  and  the  burials 
of  the  Edwards  mound,  the  following  statistics  are  of  the  vases 
found  in  that  mound  : 

With  accompanying  skeleton  55  or  80.9%,  without  accompany¬ 
ing  skeleton  12,  undetermined  1  ;  total,  68. 

With  “  bundle  ”  burials  35,  with  full  length  burials  6,  unde¬ 
termined  14;  total,  55. 

Direction  of  vases  found  from  skeletons  or  bones,  or  at  what 
end.  N. 9,  N.  E.  8,  E.  15  ,S.  E.  5,  S.3,  S.W.  0,  W.  2,N.W.l; 
irregular  2,  undetermined  10  ;  total,  55. 

Vases  near  the  skull,  38  or  69.1%  ;  not  near  the  skull  or  unde¬ 
termined  17  ;  total,  55. 

Vases  with  skeletons  of  adults  16  ;  with  those  of  young  persons 
or  children  26. 

Depth  of  the  vases.  Less  than  three  feet  52,  three  feet  or  more 
15,  undetermined  1  ;  total,  68. 

Greatest  depth  (vase  Q)  15'  2"  (with  3  skeletons,  58,  etc. ; 
S.  PL  of  skull  of  E  skeleton).  Least  depth  (vase  L)  6"  without 
visible  skeleton.  Below  or  in  stratum  B,  5. 

During  the  two  years’  work  in  all  places,  the  following  vessels  of 
pottery  were  found  : 

Bowls .  41  Wide-mouthed  bottles  .  .  5 

Pot-shaped  vessels  ...  20  Long-necked  bottles  ...  7 

The  pure  bowl  shape1,  with  or  without  a  more  or  less  flattened 
rim,  is  very  frequent  ;  the  above  table  shows  the  great  preponder¬ 
ance  of  the  vases  of  this  class. 

More,  in  proportion,  than  those  of  the  other  classes,  vases  of 
the  bowl  type  are  decorated  with  animal  forms.  The  shape  of  the 
bowl  varies  from  unusually  shallow  platters  to  deep  vessels,  verg¬ 
ing  on  the  class  of  the  pot-shaped  vases.  The  bottoms  of  nearly 
all  the  bowls  were  round  or  curved.  One  vessel  howrever  has  a 
circular,  nearly  flat  bottom  with  the  sides  rising  at  an  obtuse  angle. 
Peculiar  shapes  in  the  first  and  other  classes  are  shown  in  the 
plates. 

1  Holmes,  W.  II.:  Bureau  Eth.  Rep.  4,  1SS2-S3,  “Ancient  Pottery  of  the  Missis¬ 
sippi  Valley.”  See  also  Plates  xil-xv. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  39 


The  greater  number  of  the  vases  and  fragments  are  uncolored 
save  by  burning,  but  a  black,  red,  or  red  and  white  slip  together, 
has  occasionally  been  used.  Of  vases  and  fragments  with  a  red 
slip,  enough  were  secured  to  show  that  the  makers  had  considerable 
skill  in  its  use.  It  is  to  be  noted  that  incised  decoration  is  less 
usual  on  the  fragments  with  red  slip.  Decoration  in  relief  occurs 
both  inside  and  outside,  generally  the  latter  ;  in  bands  or  geometric 
designs,  very  frequently  near  the  top,  less  so  on  the  rims,  on  the 
ears,  or  near  the  bottom.  The  designs  vary  from  the  criss-cross 
of  the  very  roughest  and  primitive  character  through  ray-like  sym¬ 
bols  to  geometric  rectangular  figures,  and  to  scrolls  quite  similar 
to  those  of  the  Mycenean  age  in  Hellenic  pottery  and  suggest¬ 
ing  the  Swastika  and  tetraskele.  In  decoration  by  the  insertion 
of  the  finger  nail  or  some  other  broad  faced  implement,  the  potters 
were  skillful.  The  impressions  are  usually  arranged  in  parallel 
rows  around  the  rim  or  top,  and  of  these  rows  there  are  from  one 
to  six  or  even  enough  to  cover  the  entire  outside  of  the  vase. 
Decoration  by  variation  of  form  is  shown  in  the  diverse  designs 
of  the  rim,  and  the  designs  and  numbers  of  the  ears.  This  is  ex¬ 
emplified  by  the  usual  conventional  animal  heads  and  opposite  tails 
above  or  on  the  rims  of  bowls  (the  animals  being  quite  impossible 
of  identification).  Further  decoration  of  this  class  is  in  the 
spikelike  points  or  knobs  on  the  body  of  the  vases,  perhaps  (as 
suggested  by  Professor  Putnam)  representing  the  members  of  an 
animal ;  by  conventionalized  protuberances,  and  by  the  conversion 
of  the  body  itself  into  that  of  an  animal  (Plates  XIII  and  XIV). 

The  material  is  usually  a  yellow  clay  with  tempering  of  the 
mussel-shell  abundant  in  the  Sunflower  river.  The  firing  in  prep¬ 
aration  and  use  is  more  or  less  evenly  distributed  and  upon  it  the 
variation  in  color  not  due  to  the  slips  depends.  The  shaping  of 
the  vessels  is  carefully  done  :  in  some  instances  there  may  be  seen 
the  marks  of  cords  and  knots  of  a  texture  within  which  the  vessel 
was  moulded. 

Among  the  fragments  found  are  many  with  a  quite  complex 
decoration  by  incision  and  color ;  also  ears  broken  off  represent¬ 
ing  grotesque  heads  and  faces.  Incisions  made  by  hollow  reeds 
are  numerous,  the  circular  figures  resulting  having  been  used  in 
one  instance  to  represent  the  eyes  of  an  animal. 

Two  small  vases  (Plate  XVI),  two  and  a  half  and  one  and  three 
quarters  inches  in  diameter  respectively,  were  found  that  may 


40  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

have  had  merely  a  ceremonial  use  or  a  purpose  of  amusement. 
A  rude  clay  ball  one  and  three  quarters  inches  in  diameter,  burnt 
on  one  side,  may  have  been  a  toy  or  an  accidental  form.  Forty- 
six  clay  discs,  unperforated,  are  found  from  one  and  a  quarter  to 
three  inches  in  diameter ;  they  are  quite  rude,  and  of  a  type 
found  throughout  the  middle  West.  Notably  were  they  present 
in  Mr.  Harlan  I.  Smith’s  excavations  in  Kentucky.  One  perfo¬ 
rated  disc  and  one  such  fragment  suggest  spindle  whorls.  Perfo¬ 
rated  objects  of  clay  and  stone  are  few  compared  to  the  numbers 
of  beads  of  other  material.  Perforated  fragmentary  rims  of  vases 
are  however  not  uncommon.  Three  rude  clay  pipes  were  found  : 
two  of  the  platform  or  monitor  class,1  and  one  somewhat  resem¬ 
bling  that  from  New  York,  in  figure  111  of  McGuire’s  article 
on  Smoking  Customs.2  One  of  the  former  has  a  series  of  notches 
encircling  all  that  is  left  of  the  platform.  The  third  pipe  is  un¬ 
decorated.  Two  fragments  of  tubes,  possibly  of  pipes,  were 
found.  Burnt  clay  occurred  in  great  quantity  in  the  mounds  and 
on  the  surface :  in  the  former  making  level  floors  or  strata  several 
inches  thick,  difficult  to  break  even  with  a  pick,  and  on  the  latter 
occurring  in  massive  lumps  in  which  the  moulds  of  cane  or  reeds 
are  often  visible.3 

ARTICLES  OF  STONE  (PLATES  XVII-XIX)  . 

CHIPPED  STONE. 

Projectile  Points  and  Knives. 

The  collection  may  be  classified  as  follows  :  following  sugges¬ 
tions  made  by  Mr.  Thomas  Wilson4  and  Mr.  Gerard  Fowke.5 

The  articles  are  divided  into  larger  and  smaller :  the  larger  are 
two  and  a  half  inches  in  length  or  more,  the  smaller  less  than 
two  and  a  half  inches. 

Larger  chipped  points. —  Those  with  convex  edges  are  often 
quite  pointed  and  the  base  somewhat  convex  and  narrow,  ap¬ 
proaching  a  point. 


McGuire :  Rep.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1897,  1,  p.  468,  “Smoking  Customs.” 

2  “  op.  cit.  p.  493. 

s  Thomas:  Bur.  Etk.  Rep.  12,  1890-91,  p. 2.79  (Miss.  Mounds). 

“  “  “  “  “  p.  587  (Ark.  Mounds). 

4  Rep.  U.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1, 1897,  p.  890  If. 

5  Bur.  Eth.  Rep.  No.  13,  pp.  142  if.  See  also  Moorehead,  W.  K. :  “Prehistoric  Imple 
ments,”  pp.  191  if. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  41 


The  general  type  resembled  Fowke’s  type  L  {op.  cit.)  with  a 
more  rounded  base. 

Plate  XVII  shows  two  Divisions  1,  B,  j,  and  one  of  Division 
3,  A,  a.  In  the  latter  case  the  edges  are  nearly  straight. 


Pointed  at  both  ends . 

Less  pointed  (  a.  Concave 

with  base  J  .  Straight 
or  rounded  (7  Convex 

Long  parallel  sides . 


0 

0 

7 

0 


r  a.  Concave  Edges . 0 

A.  Base  Concave  -j  0-  Straight  Edges  , . 0 

I  7.  Convex  Edges . 0 

§3  fa.  Concave  Edges . 0 

3  p  <  B.  Base  Straight  -j  0-  Straight  Edges . 0 

I  v.  Convex  Edges . 0 

Q  in  '  ' 

i  f  a.  Concave  Edges . 0 

C.  Base  Convex  -j  P-  Straight  Edges . 0 

( y.  Convex  Edges .  0 


CO  CO 


*3  ®  < 


Qls 


A.  Stems  straiglit  f  a.  Straiglit  Edges 
or  wedge  shaped  |  p.  Convex  Edges 

B.  Expanding . 


Total 


Smaller  articles.  Plates  XVIII  and  XIX- 


1 

11 

2 

21 


-H? 

fA. 

Pointed  at  both  ends 

G 

B. 

Less  pointed 

'  a  Concave 

6 

’3  co  -< 

with  base 

0.  Straight 

» 

.  31 

or  rounded 

7.  Convex 

.  .  57 

u 

Long  parallel  sides  . 

2 

Total  D 


vision  1 


102 


A. 


C. 


r  a.  Concave  Edges 
Base  Concave  J  p.  Straight  Edges 
I  7.  Convex  Edges 


f  a.  Concave  Edges 
Base  Straight  J  0.  Straight  Edges 
I  7.  Convex  Edges 


f  a.  Concave  Edges 
Base  Convex  J  0.  Straight  Edges 
7.  Convex  Edges 


Total  Division  2 


2 

11 

15 

2 

14 

109 

1 

6 

51 

211 


42  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


CO  £ 

a  S 


'>  SS 


Q'g 


A. 


it. 


Stem  straight 

or  wedge  shaped 
Stems  expanding 


16 

42 


/ 

A. 


a 

o 


I?. 

C. 

D. 


Total  Division  3 

With  beveled  edges  or 

chipped  almost  exclusively  on  one  side 

With  serrated  edges . 

With  a  notch  in  one  side  of  base  .... 
Triangular  with  two  angles  sharp  and 

one  angle  rounded . 

Knife-shaped . . 


58 

6 

I 


3 


10 


o 


Total  Division  4 


Summary:  Division  1 .  102 

“  2 .  211 

“  3 .  58 

“  4 .  22 


Total  393 


A  further  Classification  of  Division  3  A  : 

With  Rase  of  Stem  Broken . 4 

“  “  “  “  Concave . 0 

“  “  “  “  Straight . 6 

“  “  “  “  Convex . 4 

“  “  “  “  Pointed . ,  .  1 

“  “  “  “  Irregular . 1 

Total  16 

Further  Division  3  A.  Classified  by  notches  or  by  the  angle  (generally  rounded) 
formed  by  the  edge  of  the  stem  and  the  edge  of  the  end  of  the  shoulder 

With  obtuse  angle . 8 

“  right  “  4 

“  acute  “  3 

Irregular  form  (  “  Bunt  ”) . 1 


Total 


16 


The  general  form  of  Division  3  A  resembles  Fowke,  Figure  204, 
p.  151  (op.  cit.).  (Bur.  Eth.  Rep.  13). 

For  the  “bunt”  compare  Fowke,  p.  168 (op.  cit.). 

No.  61878  (Peabody  Museum)  is  abnormally  asymmetric  and 
resembles  the  knife  figured  by  Wilson,  p.  946. 1 

Remarks.- — Of  the  first  two  classes  an  overwhelming  proportion 
was  found  on  the  surface.  Of  the  two  stemmed  forms  a  far  larger 
proportion  than  of  the  others  came  from  the  Edwards  mound  during 


1  Rep.  IT.  S.  Nat.  Mus.  1, 1897. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUTNY,  MISSISSIPPI.  43 


general  digging  or  in  burials.  The  two  specimens  of  Division  1, 
class  C,  corresponding  more  or  less  with  that  of  Wilson’s  p.  890, 
are  rare,  especially  in  the  light  of  that  author’s  statement  of  the 
provenance  of  the  class  from  the  Pacific  Coast :  The  points  however 
of  the  Mississippi  specimens  are  not  sharp. 

Perforators1 Few  of  these  were  found  and,  naturally,  often 
broken;  twenty-three  are  classified  as  follows  (Plate  XIX)  : 


Round,  oval  or  rectangular  in  cross  section  9 

With  minor  axis  of  cross  section  proportionately  smaller  11 
Round,  with  a  broad  flat  stem  2 

Irregular  1 

Total  23 

Scrapers. — These  nearly  all  resemble  type  B  of  Fowke.2  They 
are  divided  as  follows  (Plate  XIX)  : 

Class  1,  flat  type  78 

“  2,  with  but  one  or  two  scraping  edges  49 

3,  with  three  chipped  edges  126 

“  4,  unusual  in  form  5 

Total  258 


The  great  abundance  of  these  scrapers  (they  are  occasionally  of 
small  size,  e.  g.  base  1/2",  length  5/8")  and  the  care  shown  in 
manufacture  (for  instance  in  working  over  a  broken  projectile 
point  to  serve  as  a  scraper)  make  this  type  characteristic  of  the 
neighborhood.  Among  class  4  are  a  triangular  scraper  with  con¬ 
vex  base  and  concave  sides  all  carefully  chipped  ;  one  a  complete 
Square  with  four  chipped  sides  ;  a  shouldered  spall,  chipped  on 
the  base  and  steeper  side,  and  a  leaf-shaped  spall,  with  rounded 
ends  and  parallel  sides  chipped  with  great  care  to  a  long  ridge 
following  the  major  axis  (Plate  XIX). 

Celts  and  celt-shaped  forms.  —  Class  A.  Chipped  and  pecked 
forms  (Plate  XIX). 

These  are  very  rough,  not  unlike  the  “  Rejectage  ”  from  Vir¬ 
ginia  shown  by  Holmes  in  Plate  LXII3.  Rude  as  they  are,  there 


1  See  Fowke:  op.  cit.  p.  161.  Wilson:  p.  944,  cla'ss  K. 

-  Op.  cit.  p.  170. 

3  Holmes,  W.  H. :  “Stone  Implements  of  the  Potomac-Chesapeake  Tidewater 
Province.”  Bur.  Eth.  Rep.  15,  ’93-’!)4. 


44  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI- 


is  little  doubt  that  they  are  to  be  considered  implements.  Many 
of  them  show  signs  of  hitting  or  pecking  on  the  top  or  sides, 
probably  done  in  the  course  of  manufacture.  They  very  fre¬ 
quently  possess  the  well  known  polish  popularly  supposed  to  come 
from  use,  at  or  near  the  edge.  They  come  both  from  the  surface 
and  from  within  the  mound.  The  majority  of  them  retain  some 
of  the  original  natural  surface  of  the  stone  unmodified.  The 
specimens  of  Class  A  are  from  2"  to  4"  long.  They  may  be  ar¬ 
ranged  as  follows  : 

Class  A. 

1.  Showing  flaking  alone  with  little  or  no  pecking  5 


2.  “  followed  by  pecking  29 

3.  Undetermined  1 

Total  35 

Class  A.  (A  further  classification.) 

1.  Oval  forms  4 

2.  Longer,  tapering  away  from  the  edge  17 

3.  Shorter,  with  a  fracture  nearly  at  right 

angles  with  longer  axis  1 1 

4.  Unusual  forms  3 

Total  35 


Nearly  one-third  of  these  have  polish  at  or  near  the  edge  some¬ 
times  brilliant,  sometimes  merely  the  lustre  due  to  the  later  pro¬ 
cesses  in  celt  making. 

Of  spades  and  larger  flat  implements,  such  as  occur  in  Tennessee1 
but  three  fragments  were  found;  that  such  implements  occur  in 
Mississippi  is  known  however. 

POLISHED  STONE. 

Celts  and  celt-shaped  forms  (Class  B).  Celts  of  the  same  gen¬ 
eral  class  and  shape  as  those  of  class  A  were  found  both  on  and 
under  the  surface.  Many  were  broken,  but  where  the  fragment 
was  large  enough  to  be  significant  it  is  rated  here  as  an  implement. 
The  complete  forms  are  from  to  3f-"  long. 

1  Of.  Peabody  Museum  specimens  and  Thruston:  “Antiquities  of  Tennessee,” 
Plate  XIII. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  45 


These  may  be  classified  as  follows : 

1.  With  chipping  not  entirely  pecked  or  abraded 

away  (characteristic  and  numerous  in  propor¬ 
tion1).  11 

2.  Polished  with  few  signs  of  chipping  22 

3.  Celt  with  subsequent  chipping  1 

Total  34 

Or  they  may  be  divided  as  follows  : 

Celts  Class  B. 

1.  Long  thin  type  (nearly  corresponding  with 

the  individuals  of  class  1  above)  12 

2.  With  blunter  edge  often  fractured  at  right 

angles  with  major  axis  21 

3.  Peculiar  form  1 

Total  34 

A  further  classification  may  be  made  as  follows  : 

Celts  Class  B. 

1 .  Long  thin  type 

а.  Oval  1 

б.  With  fracture  at  right  angles  1 

c.  Tapering  from  the  edge  10 

2.  With  blunter  edge 

a.  Oval  2 

b.  Tapering  from  edge  7 

c.  With  fractures  at  right  angles  12 

3.  Peculiar  form  1 

Total  34 

The  material  of  the  chipped  celts,  Class  A,  is  usually  a  flint  or 
chert  of  a  yellowish  color ;  of  the  polished  Celts,  Class  B,  reddish, 
pink  or  yellow  flints  in  the  thinner  type ;  for  the  blunter  type, 
flint,  quartz  or  quartzite.  Besides  these  there  is  in  the  collection  a 
celt  (the  gift  of  Mrs.  E.  L.  Dorr,  Jr.)  8"  long,  from  the  surface 
near  Clarksdale ;  it  is  bell  shaped  and  has  been  broken  near  the 
edge.  See  class  G,  of  Fowke  p.  78  (Plate  XVII). 


1  See  Holmes:  op.cit.  PI.  LXIII. 


46  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


OTHER  STONE  OBJECTS. 


Hammerstones  of  various  shapes,  natural  stones  brought  from 
the  river  shoals,  and  dropped  on  the  ground  were  common,  as 
well  as  the  usual  awl  sharpeners.  On  one  of  the  last  a  certain 
rude  design  of  criss-cross  lines  seems  to  have  been  intentional. 

Stone  disks.  Eight  stone  disks  were  found  showing  some 
variety,  as  follows : 


No. 

Diameter 

Sides 

Edges 

See  class1 

Thick: 

(Fowke  p. 

99) 

1. 

H" 

Flat 

Rounding 

D 

3 

2. 

1  3" 

1  4 

Convex 

Straight 

F 

1" 

2 

3. 

ir 

<.  1 

t  t 

l  l 

3// 

4 

4. 

H" 

Flat 

Convex 

P 

l  " 

5. 

H" 

1 1 

Rough 

i  r 

6. 

3" 

f  1  Convex 
|  1  Pitted 

Convex 

0 

n" 

7. 

2f" 

(  1  Convex 
j  1  Straight 

Straight 

0 

H" 

8. 

.,i" 

4 

Convex 

Rough 

L 

i  r 

Two  plummets 

(Plate  XVI) 

were  found,  both  rough  :  one  f 

the  surface  and  one  from  the  mound.  They  are  both  pear-shaped, 
that  from  the  mound  oval,  that  from  the  surface  tapering  from 
near  the  bottom,  and  both  are  grooved  for  suspension.  That 
from  the  mound  (broken)  is  two  and  one-quarter  inches  long, 
that  from  the  surface  two  and  one- half  inches  long. 


Three  perforated  pendants  were  found  :  one  was  a  flat  pebble, 
one  and  a  half  inches  long,  one,  a  llat  pear-shaped  stone  three  and 
a  half  inches  long,  with  the  sides  worked  to  a  blunt  edge  and  with 
parallel  scratchings  on  one  side  ;  the  third  was  a  flat  pear-shaped 
pebble  one  and  one-half  inches  long,  found  under  the  skull  of 
skeleton  121. 


SHELL. 


Shells,  as  remarked  above,  were  very  numerous,  occurring  as 
the  refuse  of  ancient  feasts,  or  as  the  debris  from  the  workshops 
where  shells  were  used  in  tempering  the  pottery.  Outside,  how¬ 
ever,  of  beads  and  occasional  ornaments,  the  only  modification  of 
the  natural  forms  w*as  by  perforation  ;  five  perforated  unio  shells 


1  See  Bur.  Eth.  13  (op.  cit.)  . 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  47 


were  found,  four  of  which  may  have  been  used  as  spoons  or 
scrapers,  and  one  as  an  ornament. 

MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTS  OF  SHELL  AND  OTHER  MATERIALS. 

(PLATE  XX) 

OCCURRENCE. 

1.  Of  shell. 

Eight  shell  beads  were  found  by  the  arm,  thigh  and  neck  of 
Skeleton  12  (bundle  burial). 

Position  :  V  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Two  shell  beads  were  found  with  Skeleton  19,  one  near  the  chin 
(full-length  burial). 

Position  :  Y  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

One  shell  bead,  two  beads  of  quartz  and  a  brass  bell  were  found 
with  Skeleton  25  (bundle  burial  and  a  child’s  skeleton). 

Position  :  2'  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Shell  beads  were  found  with  Skeleton  32,  near  the  neck  and 
near  the  left  wrist ;  in  the  latter  case  they  lay  in  order  as  if  having 
been  on  a  string ;  there  were  also  some  beads  near  the  neck. 

Position  :  2'  3"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Shell  beads  were  found  near  the  neck  of  Skeleton  34  (bundle 
burial  in  a  seeming  intrusion). 

Position  :  2'  10"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Four  shell  beads  were  found  with  Skeleton  36  (probably  a  bun¬ 
dle  burial ;  that  of  a  child). 

Position  :  V  8"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Shell  beads  were  found  with  Skeleton  138  (bundle  burial). 

Position  :  3'  10"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Shell  beads  were  also  found  in  the  general  digging  of  the 
Edwards  Mound  (see  No.  61777,  Peabody  Museum)  and  on  the 
surface  of  the  surrounding  field  (see  No.  61861,  Peabody  Museum). 

A  shell  bead  and  a  brass  perforator  were  found  under  a  skull 
in  the  Cemetery  Mound. 

2.  Beads  of  glass. 

Two  series  of  glass  beads  were  found  under  the  chin  of  Skele¬ 
ton  4  (bundle  burial). 

Position:  2'  9"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Beads  of  glass,  a  brass  point  and  small  shells  were  (all)  found 
under  the  skull  of  Skeleton  5  (bundle  burial). 


48  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY.  MISSISSIPPI- 

Position  :  3 '  i”  clown  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Eleven  glass  beads  were  found  in  a  group  with  Skeleton  7 
(bundle  burial). 

Position  :  3'  4"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

A  glass  bead  was  found  with  Skeleton  8  (bundle  burial). 

Position :  Y  b"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Glass  beads  were  found  under  the  left  humerus  of  Skeleton  28 
(a  bundle  burial) . 

Position  :  Y  6"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Glass  beads  were  found  with  Skeleton  31  (a  bundle  burial). 

Position:  Y  '6"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Glass  beads  were  also  found  on  the  surrounding  surface  near  the 
Edwards  Mound. 

8.  Beads  of  other  substances . 

One  bead  of  jasper  was  found  in  the  general  digging  of  the 
Edwards  Mound  in  cutting  15. 

One  bead  of  galena  was  found  with  an  unworked  piece  of  the 
same  substance  8"  down  in  the  Dorr  Mound  (see  Nos.  57253  and 
57256,  Peabody  Museum) . 

Two  beads  of  quartz  were  found  with  Skeleton  25  (a  bundle 
burial  of  a  child) . 

Position  :  2/  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

A  long  bead  of  brass  was  found  inside  the  occiput  of  Skeleton 
151  (a  full  length  burial  in  an  intrusion). 

Position :  Y  6"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Two  beads  of  brass  were  found  with  Skeleton  157  (a  bundle 
burial  of  a  child). 

Position  :  1 1 "  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

4.  Other  articles. 

A  stone  tube  (see  No.  61855,  Peabody  Museum)  found  on  the 
surface  was  presented  by  Mrs.  P.  M.  Edwards. 

One  brass  bell  was  found  under  the  left  ear  of  Skeleton  25 
(a  bundle  burial  of  a  child). 

Position  :  2'  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

One  brass  bell  was  found  with  Skeleton  14,  near,  or  in  contact 
with  the  skull  (a  u  scissors-shaped ”  burial). 

Position  :  Y  2"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

A  brass  point  was  found  with  Skeleton  5  under  the  skull,  ac¬ 
companied  by  glass  beads  and  shells  (a  bundle  burial). 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI-  49 


Position  :  3 '  1"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

A  brass  perforator  was  found  with  a  skull  in  the  Cemetery 
Mound. 

Brass  was  found  near  the  neck  of  Skeleton  32,  the  bone  near  it 
being  discolored  by  the  brass. 

Position  :  2'  3"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Quartz  was  found  in  the  Dorr  Mound  (see  No.  57251,  Peabody 
Museum)  and  with  Skeleton  28  (a  bundle  burial). 

Position  :  1'6"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Mica  was  found  with  Skeleton  139  (a  bundle  burial). 

Position  :  8"  down  in  the  Edwards  Mound. 

Parched  corn  was  found  at  the  bottom  of  the  hole  No.  7  ;  the 
top  of  this  hole  was  V  down,  the  bottom  2'  10"  down  in  the 
Edwards  Mound. 

The  greatest  depth  recorded  at  which  articles  possibly  of  white 
man’s  manufacture  were  found  was.  in  the  Edwards  Mound  :  for 
glass  3'  4";  for  brass  3'1". 

There  is  no  reason  to  believe,  from  the  evidence  of  the  articles 
found,  that  the  lower  part  of  the  Edwards  Mound  was  constructed 
or  disturbed  after  white  contact. 

>  Form  of  the  beads.  The  beads  of  glass  are  all  globular ;  the 
smaller  flattened,  the  larger  elliptical;  they  are  of  iridescent  blue 
color.  The  size  varies  from  a  diameter  of  1  /10"  with  a  perforation 
1/30"  in  diameter  to  4/10"  in  diameter  with  a  perforation  1/10"  in 
diameter. 

The  beads  of  shell  are  many  of  them  discoidal.  The  size  is 
from  1/5"  in  diameter,  3/20"  in  thickness,  with  perforation  1/10" 
in  diameter,  to  8/10"  in  diameter,  4/10"  in  thickness,  with  per¬ 
foration  1  /5"  in  diameter. 

Seven  beads  of  shell  of  the  massive  type  were  found.  The 
largest  is  1  1/10"  in  diameter,  9/10"  in  thickness  with  a  perfora¬ 
tion  1  / 10"  in  diameter. 

The  jasper  bead  is  tubular,  3/4"  long  6/10"  in  diameter,  with  a 
countersunk  perforation  3/10"  in  diameter  at  the  end. 

The  quartz  beads  are  tubular  and  countersunk,  one  quadran¬ 
gular,  one  hexagonal. 

The  hexagonal  bead  is  9/10"  long,  7/10"  in  diameter,  with  a 
perforation  3/10"  in  diameter  at  the  ehd. 

The  quadrangular  bead  is  1  1/10"  long,  6/10"  in  diameter,  with 
a  perforation  5/20"  in  diameter. 


50  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS.  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

The  galena  bead  is  tubular  and  massive,  1"  long,  l"  in  diameter 
with  countersunk  perforation  3/10"in  diameter  at  the  end. 

The  ends  are  flat  and  parallel  and  the  section  rudely  quadrangu¬ 
lar  with  beveled  edges. 

The  tubular  brass  bead  is  made  of  a  rolled  sheet  and  is  1  1/10// 
long  and  3/1 0"  in  diameter. 

ARTICLES  OF  BONE1  (PLATE  XX). 

Awls,  perforators  and  projectile  points  were  found  in  the  mound, 
not  on  the  surface ;  they  were  made  from  the  bones  of  either  the 
deer  or  the  turkey.  They  may  be  classified  as  follows  : 


Aids  and  perforators. 

1.  Long  forms  with  slender  tapering  points, 

2  3/4"  to  1"  long  ....  .14 

2.  Very  slender  and  polished  ....  1 

3.  Blunter  forms  of  antler  (some  unworked)  .  5 

4.  With  a  flatter  section  above  the  point  .  .  6 

5.  Very  slender  and  with  sharp  points  .  .  5 

Total  31 

Projectile  points  ......  8 


A  bone  specimen  of  doubtful  authenticity  (No.  61885,  Peabody 
Museum)  may  be  a  fragment  of  an  atlatl ;  two  bear’s  teeth  were 
found  near  the  ears  of  skeleton  55. 

Miscellaneous. 

In  the  Dorr  mound  three  lumps  of  galena  were  found  not  con¬ 
nected  with  a  burial.  Pieces  of  quartz  occurred  in  both  mounds  ; 
in  the  Edwards  mound  with  skeleton  28.  Pigments  of  a  pink 
color  were  found  eight  feet  down  in  the  Edwards  mound.  Bark, 
decayed  wood  and  ashes  were  common  throughout  this  mound. 
Blocks  and  unidentified  objects  of  cannel  coal  were  presented  by 
Mrs.  P.  M.  Edwards  found  by  herself  near  the  river  bank  one- 
half  mile  from  the  Edwards  mound. 

In  addition  to  the  beads  mentioned  over  one  hundred  minute 
discoidal  beads  of  turquoise  were  found  with  a  child’s  skeleton 

i  Beauchamp,  W.  M. :  Bull.  N.  Y.  State  Mus.,  No.  50,  Mar.  1902.  Willoughby,  C.  C. : 
Am.  Anthrop.,  N.  S.  Vol.  3,  No.  3,  1901,  p.  431. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  51 


(No.  137)  in  connection  with  the  enamel  of  the  teeth.  Also  a 
small  turquoise  pendant ;  the  beads  were  some  of  them  less  than 
one  tenth  of  an  inch  in  diameter,  divided  equally  between  the  two 
sides  and  the  perforation  ;  the  thickness  was  one  forty-fifth  of  an 
inch  or  less.  The  pendant  was  half  an  inch  long  and  half  an 
inch  broad,  shaped  like  a  section  through  a  pot-shaped  vase,  with 
a  round  handle.  The  skeleton  was  not  deeply  buried  and  some 
glass  beads  were  also  found  with  it.  This  turquoise  is  the  same 
as  that  used  by  the  Pueblo  Indians,  and,  as  suggested  by  Professor 
Putnam,  there  is  little  doubt  that  it  was  obtained  from  some 
Pueblo  Indian  by  trade  in  early  white  man’s  times. 

THE  BONES  OF  ANIMALS. 

The  following  animals  have  been  identified  from  bones  found 
during  the  exploration. 

Deer  —  Cariacus  virgmianus. 

Bear  —  TJrsus  americanus. 

Raccoon  —  Procyon  lotor. 

Opossum  —  Didelphys  virginianct. 

Beaver  —  Castor  canadensis. 

Wildcat  —  Lynx  rufvs. 

Rabbit  —  Lepus  aquaticus. 

Squirrel  —  Sciurus  carolinensis. 

Dog  —  Canis  familiar  is. 

Turkey  —  Meleagris  gallopavo  americanci. 

Sheepshead  —  Aplodinotus  grunniens. 

Alligator  Gar  —  Lepidosteus  tristoechus. 

Conclusion. 

The  Edwards  Mound  may  be  considered  as  a  typical  Indian 
mound  of  a  later  period  placed  within  a  typical  village  site.  The 
characteristic  features  are  first,  the  division  of  the  mound  into  an 
upper  and  lower  part,  separated  by  strata  A  and  B,  and  second, 
the  variety  and  richness  of  the  articles,  found  at  or  near  the  sur¬ 
face  of  the  surrounding  field. 

Below  the  “Critical  level”  were  the  greater  number  of  full  length 
burials  ;  above  it  the  greater  number  of  bundle  burials.  Below  the 
“Critical  level”  were  found  but  five  of  the  sixty-eight  vases,  and 
very  few  manufactured  articles  of  any  kind,  while  above  it  they 


52  EXPLORATION  OF  MOITNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 

were  frequent.  These  facts,  coupled  with  the  amount  of  ashes  in 
stratum  B  and  with  the  rude  ring  of  holes1  above  referred  to,  in¬ 
duce  to  the  opinion,  that  the  mound  lias  been  built  in  two  periods  : 
that  the  lower  portion  was  gradually  built  and  used  as  a  burial 
place,  that  a  stockade  of  posts  was  set  up  about  a  centre  to  the 
east  of  a  later  apex ;  that,  after  a  period  of  occupancy,  this  stock¬ 
ade  was  burnt  down,  and  another  population  continued  to  build 
the  mound  to  a  conical  apex  some  ten  feet  higher.  Further  we 
conclude  that  the  latter  people  buried  their  dead  from  time  to 
time,  generally  intrusively  in  the  bundle  fashion  and  deposited 
pottery,  and  necklaces  and  strings  of  stone,  shell  and  glass  beads 
with  the  bones ;  further  that  the  latter  people  were  undoubtedly 
Post  Columbian  and  were  well  skilled  in  working  stone  and  had 
some  acquaintance  with  white  people  and  other  tribes,  at  least  by 
trade.  More  than  this  can  hardly  be  asserted.  The  most  strik¬ 
ing  characteristic  of  the  specimens  found  during  the  expedition’s 
continuance  is  the  consummately  good  workmanship  bestowed  on 
the  smaller  flint  implements,  particularly  the  scrapers,  in  compar¬ 
ison  with  the  rudeness  and  the  infrequency  of  the  larger  forms 
belonging  to  the  stone  age.  The  specimens,  except  the  turquoise, 
are  what  would  be  expected  from  the  civilization  of  the  Arkansas- 
lower  Mississippi  district.  In  connection  with  this  a  paucity  of 
worked  shell  is  to  be  noted. 


APPENDIX  I. 

HUMAN  BONES.  By  W.  C.  Farabee. 

The  human  bones  found  during  the  two  years’  excavations 
were  in  such  an  advanced  state  of  decay  that  it  was  impossible 
to  preserve  many  of  them  for  study.  Of  the  large  number  of 
skeletons  exhumed,  the  skulls  of  only  seven  were  sufficiently 
preserved  for  the  taking  of  measurements.  The  most  notable 
feature  of  this  small  collection  of  skulls  is  the  antero-posterior 
shortening,  which  produces  an  extreme  grade  of  brachycephaly. 
The  average  cranial  index  is  90.4 ;  the  extremes  are  84.8  and  97.5 
respectively.  In  most  cases  there  is  depression  in  the  occipital 


1  See  geographical  centre  and  centre  of  circle  of  holes  on  p.  34. 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAIIOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  53 


region  only,  but  in  some  cases  the  frontal  region  also  is  similarly 
deformed.  Many  fragments  of  occipital  and  frontal  hones  show 
the  same  influence. 

Since  the  series  is  so  small  and  the  measurements  are  so  affected 
by  this  artificial  deformation,  it  seems  useless  to  enter  into  any 
discussion  of  particular  measurements  or  indexes.  The  table  is 
subjoined  in  the  hope  that  it  may  be  of  some  value  in  a  compara¬ 
tive  study  with  other  skulls  from  the  same  region. 

In  general  character  and  especially  in  artificial  deformations, 
these  skulls  very  closely  resemble  those  from  the  burial  mounds 
in  the  St.  Francis  River  region  of  Arkansas,  but  as  we  have  no 
measurements  of  this  collection  a  comparative  study  cannot  be 
undertaken  at  this  time. 

The  collection  from  Mississippi  contains  a  few  very  interesting 
anomalies  : 

Skull  578131  which  bears  no  evidence  of  artificial  deformation, 
has  both  auricular  cavities  completely  closed  with  bony  tumors. 

In  the  lower  jaw  of  57830  there  is  a  supernumerary  canine  tooth 
fully  formed  and  large  as  normal,  lying  below  and  back  of  the 
normal  canine  tooth  on  the  right  side. 

There  are  two  cases  showing  sternal  foramina  ;  one  (57833) 
3  mm.  in  diameter  and  the  other  (57838)  10  mm.  in  diameter. 

The  olecranon  fossa  is  perforated  in  12  of  the  28  specimens;  3 
of  males  and  9  of  females  ;  3  lefts  and  9  rights. 

There  are  three  specimens  which  clearly  show  the  results  of 
violence.  The  shaft  of  the  left  femur  of  skeleton  57817  has  been 
fractured  just  above  the  second  trochanter,  the  upper  part  being 
displaced  forward  about  half  its  diameter  and  slightly  twisted 
outward  upon  itself.  The  ends  are  rounded  off  and  the  opening 
of  the  medullary  cavity  is  obliterated. 

The  right  tibia  of  57836  had  an  oblique  fracture  from  the  upper 
part  of  the  lower  third  on  the  inside  to  7  cm.  above  the  external 
malleolus.  The  lower  part  has  been  drawn  upward  about  3  cm. 
and  forward  2  cm.,  making  an  angle  of  12°  with  the  shaft.  There 
is  a  great  deal  of  roughening  from  an  ossifying  periostitis  which 
extends  around  the  bone.  The  fibula  of  the  same  leg  suffered 
even  a  greater  displacement,  for  the  broken  ends  moved  by  each 
other  and  in  this  new  position  were  firmly  soldered  by  a  strong- 
bony  mass. 

1  The  numbers  refer  to  the  catalogue  of  the  Peabody  Museum. 


54  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


Measurements  of  Crania. 


Catalogue  Number 

Sex 

57808 

!• 

57837 

F 

57807 

57806 

M 

57813 

M 

57835 

M 

57834  AVER 

M  FEMALE 

AGE 

MALE 

Capacity 

138(1 

1250 

1547 

1315 

1547 

Length 

IDS 

164 

163 

173 

185 

162 

167 

162 

172 

Breadth 

154 

131) 

141 

145 

158 

145 

151 

Biasterial  breadth 

110 

103 

111 

102 

108 

111 

108 

107 

Biauricular  “ 

124 

103 

111 

105 

108 

110 

121 

113 

113 

Bistephanic  “ 

122 

10!) 

109 

no 

116 

124 

113 

117 

Interpterion  “ 

120 

103 

112 

105 

no 

113 

123 

112 

113 

Minimum  frontal  breadth 

101 

92 

94 

94 

90 

95 

99 

96 

96 

Bizygomatic 

130 

135 

136 

130 

136 

External  biorbital  “ 

100 

91 

92 

97 

94 

93 

94 

95 

Internal  “ 

‘29 

23 

22 

21 

26 

23 

27 

25 

24 

Bijugal 

117 

105 

110 

114 

112 

113 

in 

113 

Bimaxillary 

103 

94 

97 

95 

102 

98 

99 

Bialveolar  “ 

65 

62 

64 

71 

02 

07 

64 

67 

Maxillary  length 

50 

50 

54 

59 

63 

50 

56 

51 

55 

Basi-alveolar  “ 

100 

91 

93 

104 

102 

90 

96 

95 

101 

Basi-nasal  “ 

102 

92 

S8 

99 

109 

98 

96 

94 

101 

Basi-bregmatic  height 

142 

132 

131 

147 

150 

144 

147 

135 

147 

Basion-obelion 

138 

129 

134 

145 

142 

129 

147 

134 

136 

Basion-lambda 

120 

115 

119 

120 

126 

109 

127 

118 

121 

Length  of  foramen  magnum 

35 

35 

- 

39 

41 

38 

38 

35 

39 

Breadth  “  “  “ 

31 

•28 

27 

32 

29 

27 

29 

29 

Malar  height 

43 

42 

44 

47 

46 

49 

40 

43 

47 

Naso-alveolar  height 

70 

64 

67 

70 

76 

70 

71 

69 

72 

Spino-alveolar  “ 

24 

19 

22 

22 

28 

21 

28 

22 

25 

Orbital  breadth 

40 

34 

37 

41 

43 

38 

37 

37 

40 

“  height 

34 

34 

35 

34 

37 

37 

32 

34 

35 

depth 

47 

45 

44 

47 

52 

55 

48 

45 

51 

Bidacryc  breadth 

22 

22 

18 

18 

20 

18 

21 

21 

19 

Nasal  height 

56 

46 

42 

50 

50 

51 

44 

48 

49 

“  breadth 

25 

24 

26 

27 

23 

24 

25 

25 

25 

Palatal  length 

43 

43 

39 

47 

41 

40 

43 

42 

43 

“  breadth,  canines 

24 

26 

21 

23 

24 

23 

24 

24 

24 

EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI.  55 


Catalogue  Number 

Sex 

5780S 

F 

57837 

57807 

F 

57806 

M 

57813 

M 

57835 

M 

57834 

M 

AVER 

FEMALE 

\.GE 

MALE 

Palatal  breadth,  2nd  molars 

44 

38 

39 

41 

43 

43 

40 

40 

42 

Dental  length 

39 

41 

41 

42 

40 

42 

Height  of  choanae 

24 

22 

25 

25 

24 

23 

25 

24 

24 

Breadth  of  “ 

30 

24 

26 

25 

30 

26 

29 

27 

28 

ARCS 

Naso-malar 

11(1 

98 

99 

107 

105 

100 

102 

104 

Frontal 

114 

111 

113 

122 

128 

125 

124 

113 

125 

Parietal 

118 

118 

121 

132 

125 

120 

122 

119 

125 

Occipital 

102 

103 

110 

113 

99 

127 

103 

112 

Total  sagittal 

334 

332 

364 

366 

344 

373 

333 

362 

Maximum  transverse 

474 

418 

430 

445 

452 

481 

437 

459 

Supraauricular 

355 

304 

320 

324 

335 

375 

344 

345 

Preauricular 

275 

257 

255 

268 

280 

270 

274 

262 

273 

Total  horizontal 

490 

476 

487 

494 

490 

512 

484 

499 

Indices 

Cranial 

97.5 

84.8 

86.5 

89.5 

94.6 

89.3 

92 

V  ertical 

89.8 

80.5 

80.4 

84.9 

81.1 

88.9 

88 

83.6 

85.3 

Breadth-height 

92.2 

94.9 

92.9 

99.3 

93 

93.3 

96.1 

Orbital 

85 

100 

94.6 

82.9 

86 

97.4 

86.5 

93.2 

88.2 

Nasal 

44. G 

52.2 

61.9 

54 

46 

47.1 

56.8 

52.9 

50.9 

Uranic 

180 

124 

118 

134 

124 

11‘) 

124 

126 

APPENDIX  II. 


“  THE  COPIAH  COUNTY  WALL.” 

(Plates  XXI  and  XXII) 

After  the  conclusion  of  the  work  in  Coahoma  County  in  1901, 
the  writer,  in  company  with  Mr.  C.  W.  Clark,  of  Clarksdale,  made 
an  excursion  to  Brandywine,  Claiborne  County,  Mississippi,  for 
the  purpose  of  looking  at  the  so-called  prehistoric  wall  of  that 
district. 

July  second  was  spent  in  examining  and  photographing  the 
“wall.”  As  far  as  can  be  asserted  from  such  a  brief  study,  the  “wall” 
is  a  perpendicular  stratum  of  white  sandstone  of  natural  formation 
which  presents  several  outcrops  near  Brandywine.  At  the  surface 
the  stone  is  broken  by  natural  cleavage  with  blocks  of  a  general 
size  of,  say,  i'  5"  x  2'  6"  x  2'  W'.  Between  these  is  a  soft  deposit 
of  so-called  “Cement,  ”  found  upon  examination  at  the  Mineralogi- 
cal  Museum  of  Harvard  University  by  Dr.  Palaclie,1  to  consist  of 
decomposed  sandstone,  produced  by  weathering  possibly,  with  per- 
naps  some  admixture  of  iron.  Other  outcrops  of  a  similar  for¬ 
mation  occur  not  far  distant. 

See  Plates  XXI  and  XXII  which  show  views  of  an  outcrop  of 
the  “  wall”  taken  from  the  south  and  east,  respectively. 

1  Dec.  2, 1903,  Professor  C.  Palaclie  on  examination,  a  second  time,  pronounced 
the  rock  and  the  cement  to  be  practically  identical  with  no  trace  of  ealcium  carbonate ; 
a  slight  trace  or  stain  of  iron  in  the  cement  may  have  arisen  through  weathering  or 
outside  influences.  One  can  have  resulted  from  the  other  by  mechanical  decomposition. 


(56) 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATES. 

DESCRIPTION  OP  PLATE  VII  (MAP). 

Mounds  (indicated  by  circles)  noted  in  1901  (besides  large  Central  Mound 
or  Edwards  Mound). 

1  Height  3'  5"  4  Small  Mound  (invisible  in  1902) 

2  “  3'  3"  5  Height  2'  6" 

3  “  5'  5”  (Cemetery  Mound)  6  Small  Mound 


Mounds  described  in  1902. 

A  Height  1'  8"  E  Height  1' 

B  “  1'  4”  F  “  1' 

C  “  10”  G  “  1' 

D  “  1'  6”  H  “  1' 

P.  A.  ;  P.  B. ;  P.  C.  =  Pits  (see  text,  page  30) 

J  J  =  approximate  line  of  a  depression  2'  ±  deep 
K  K  =  Course  of  Sunflower  River 


7" 

2" 

2" 

4" 


DESCRIPTION  OP  PLATE  VIII;  TYPICAL  CROSS  SECTION. 

(See  page  28) 

Edwards  Mound;  looking  West. 

Sections  1,  2  and  3,  united;  taken  under  Stake  21  on  May  29,  June  9 
and  June  16,  1902. 

A  A  =  xxx  =  “  Stratum  A  ”  (See  pp.  31,  If.),  “  Buckshot.” 

BB  =/////  =  “  Stratum  B  "(See  pp.  31,  fF. ) ,  containing  charcoal, 
loose  earth,  etc. 

“  Stratum  A”  here  often  appears  as  if  thrown  from  baskets. 

CC 
D 
E 
FG 
F'  G' 

H 
I 
J 
K 
LL 
SK 


=  Burnt  clay. 

=  Charcoal. 

=  Hole  filled  with  loose  earth. 

=  “  Sod-line.” 

=  Floor  of  excavated  trench. 

=  Pocket  of  ashes. 

=  Human  bones. 

=  Ashes. 

=  Ashes,  burnt-earth ;  charcoal. 
=  Shells  in  “Sod-line.” 

=  Skeleton. 


Notbs  :  Under  Stakes  A/B  above  and  below  the  “  Sod-line ’’and  to  the 
northward  above  “  Sod-line  ”  is  brown  and  yellow  discoloration. 
Scattered  shells  and  charcoal. 

Figures  =  Height  of  surface  above  “  Sod-line.  ”  Trench  at  Q  not  fully 
excavated  ;  a  china-berry  tree  (  T  )  was  left  in  situ. 


(57) 


58  EXPLORATION  OK  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XII. 


At  tup  of  plate  (line  1). 

DIAMETER. 

HEIGHT. 

WHERE  FOUND. 

Plate-shaped  bowl. 

1'  2" 

33  ' 

Cemetery  Mound. 

Line  2  (left  to  right). 

1.  Bowl  with  flat  rim. 

<4 

-  4 

Edwards  Mound 
E.  of  Skeleton  21. 
1'  down. 

2.  Bowl  with  flat  rim. 

Note  (in  line  2)  peculiar,  simi¬ 
lar,  incised  pattern  on  rims. 

8|” 

4g" 

Edwards  Mound 
E.  of  Skeleton  21 
1’  down. 

At  bottom  of  pliite  (line  3). 

Cemetery  Mound. 

Plate-shaped  bowl. 

8" 

12” 

S.  of  Human 
Bones. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XIII. 

Line  1  (lelt  to  right). 

DIAMETER. 

HEIGHT. 

WHERE  FOUND. 

1.  Vase  with  conventional 
knobs. 

ov 

34" 

Cemetery  Mound. 

2.  Vase  with  ears  resembling* 
animal  forms. 

Nose  to  tail . 
7.V' 

To  top  of  head 
43" 

Cemetery  Mound 
with  six  Skele¬ 
tons. 

Line  2. 

1.  Tall  bowl  with  triangular 
base. 

Maximum 

ii" 

5' ' 

Dorr  Mound. 
North  side 

2.  Vase  with  conventional 
knobs. 

6" 

2a" 

Edwards  Mound. 
With  human 
bones 

1'  11"  down. 

Line  3. 

Bowl  with  ears  resembling  ani¬ 
mal  forms. 

Contains  rattles  within  the 
head. 

Nose  to  tail. 

113" 

To  top  of  head. 

^IM 

Edwards  Mound 
E.  of  skull  of 
Skeleton  156. 
1’  2"  down. 

Line  4. 

1.  Tall  bowl  with  so-called 
“Compass-rays.” 

Maximum. 

5  3” 

54" 

Edwards  Mound. 
With  human 
bones.  Below 
“Stratum  B” 

2.  Tall  bowl  with  quadran¬ 
gular  base. 

Maximum 

Edwards  Mound. 
With  .a  human 

43  ' 

7r 

skull 

2'  3”  down. 

EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNT  F,  MISSISSIPPI.  59 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XIV. 


Line  1.  Left  to  right. 

1.  Vase  with  a  conventional 
pattern  of  four  scrolls. 

DIAMETER. 

Overall 

HEIGHT. 

51" 

WHERE  FOUND. 

Edwards  Mound 
S.  of  skull  of 
skeleton  126. 

1’  7”  down. 

2.  Vase  with  ears  and  four 
knobs. 

Overall. 

62” 

if 

Cemetery  Mound. 

Line  2. 

1.  Vase  of  rare  “tea  pot”  shape. 
With  red  slip. 

Tail  to  spout. 

61” 

To  top  of 
spout. 
if" 

Surface  near 
Edwards 
Mound. 

2.  Vase  of  rare  “tea-pot”  shape. 

To  end  of 
spout. 

5' 

To  top  of 
spout. 

4  r 

Edwards  Mound. 
With  human 
bones. 

1'  11"  down. 

Line  3. 

Vase  with  eight  scrolls. 

Orifice. 

21 

4” 

Edwards  Mound. 
N.  of  skull  of 
skeleton  26. 

2’  down. 

Line  4. 

1.  Vase  with  three  scrolls. 

4  h" 

41" 

Edwards  Mound. 
E.  of  skull  of 
skeleton  157. 
11"  down. 

2.  Vase  in  rare  fish-form. 

6' 

Edwards  Mound. 
N.  E.  of  skull 
of  adult  skele¬ 
ton.  (Skeletons 
17  and  18).  Not 
deep. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XV. 


DIAMETER. 

HEIGHT. 

WHERE  FOUND. 

Vase  at  the  top. 

Vase  of  unusual  triple  forma 
tion.  Covered  with  red 
slip. 

n ' 

er 

Cemetery  Mound. 

Line  2.  Left  to  right. 

1.  Vase  with  pattern  of  inter¬ 
twined  tetraskeles. 

Body  of  vase  red;  pattern  in 
white. 

72” 

7J" 

Edwards  Mound. 

2'  down. 
Without  accom¬ 
panying  skele 
ton. 

2.  Vase  similar  to  ho.  1,  in 
color  and  design. 

W 

62" 

Edwards  Mound 
N.of  skull  of  Skel 

eton  7. 

3'  4"  down. 

60  EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XVI. 


Line  1  (left  to  right). 

1.  Disc  of  pottery. 

DIAMETEIi. 

lg" 

REMARKS. 

With  concave  sides. 

2.  Disc  of  stone. 

With  convex  sides.  Surface  near 
Edwards  Mound. 

Line  2. 

1.  “Plummet”  of  stone. 

LENGTH. 

2g” 

From  the  surface. 

2.  “Plummet”  of  stone. 

2V 

Edwards  Mound. 

Line  3. 

DIAMETER  OVER 
THE  TOR. 

Edwards  Mound.  See  page 

With  pelvis  of  Skeleton  78. 

7' 6”  down. 

1.  Small  vase  of  clay. 

24" 

Skeleton  of  young  person. 

2.  Small  vase  of  clay. 

2" 

Edwards  Mound. 

DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XVII. 


DIVISION. 

LENGTH. 

Three  articles  of  stone 

at  the  top  (left  to 
right) ;  see  p.  41 

1.  Point  or  knife  of 

(Large) 

stone. 

1.  B  y 

4” 

>  Edwards  Mound. 

2.  Point  or  knife  of 

(Large) 

i  V  10”down. 

stone. 

1.  By 

3|” 

Said  to  be  from  the 

3.  Point  of  stone 

(Large) 

surface  of  the  Dorr 

with  tang  broken. 

Div.  3,  A  a. 

54” 

Mound,  North  side 

LENGTH. 

At  bottom  of  plate. 

Vicinity  of  Dorr 

Polished  Celt. 

8" 

Mound.  See  p.  45. 

EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI,  61 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XVIII. 
(See  pages  41  and  42.) 


CLASSIFICATION. 

LENGTH. 

REMARKS. 

Line  1.  (Left  to  right.) 

Specimen  1. 

Div.  1.  A. 

ii" 

“  2. 

Div.  1.  B.  a. 

18" 

“  3. 

Div.  1.  B.  0. 

14" 

4. 

Div.  1.  B.  v- 

28" 

“  5. 

Div.  1.  C. 

14" 

Line  2. 

Specimen  1. 

Div.  2.  A.  a. 

1" 

“  2. 

Div.  2.  A.  0. 

1” 

“  3. 

Div.  2.  A.  y. 

16" 

Line  3. 

Specimen  1. 

Div.  2.  B.  a. 

18" 

“  2. 

Div.  2.  B.  0. 

Is” 

“  8. 

Div.  2.  B.  y. 

1” 

Line  4. 

Specimen  1. 

Div.  2.  C.  a. 

18" 

“  2. 

Div.  2.  C.  0. 

i" 

“  3. 

Div.  2.  C.  y. 

1!" 

Line  5. 

Div.  3.  A. 

18  ' 

Line  6. 

Specimen  1. 

Div.  3.  B.  a. 

18" 

Without  well  defined  shoul¬ 
ders. 

“  2. 

Div.  3.  B.  0. 

18" 

With  well  defined  shoulders. 

“  3. 

Div.  3.  B.  y. 

2” 

Barbed. 

Line  7. 

Specimen  1. 

Div.  4. 

8" 

With  a  rounded  base-angle. 

“  2. 

Div.  4. 

) 

14" 

Serrated. 

62 


EXPLORATION  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XIX. 
(Perforators;  see  page  43.) 


Line  1.  (Left  to  right.) 

LENGTH. 

REMARKS. 

Specimen  1. 

25" 

Round  in  section. 

“  2. 

If” 

Flat  in  section. 

“  3. 

Ol" 

-4 

Stemmed. 

(Scrapers;  see  page  43.) 


Line  2. 

Specimen  1. 

i" 

With  three  chipped  edges. 

“  2. 

15 

With  one  or  two  scraping  edges. 

“  3. 

i§” 

Flat  type. 

“  4. 

2’ 

Peculiar  form. 

(Chipped  Celts;  see  page  43.) 

Line  3. 

Specimen  I. 

2 

Oval  type. 

“  2. 

35" 

Tapering  type. 

“  3. 

15’ 

Fractured;  with  polish. 

(Polished  Celts;  see 

page  44.) 

Line  4. 

Specimen  1. 

35" 

Polishing  incomplete. 

“  2. 

25 

Polishing  complete. 

EXPLORATIONS  OF  MOUNDS,  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI  63 


DESCRIPTION  OF  PLATE  XX. 
(See  pagee  46  ff.) 


Line  1.  (Left  to  right.) 

1.  Four  beads  of  shell. 

Diameter. 

1" 

Type. 

Discoid  al. 

2.  Bead  of  shell. 

Across  wing. 

1J" 

Massive. 

3.  Bead  of  shell. 

Across  wing. 

1" 

Massive. 

Line  2. 

Beads  of  glass  in  a  string. 

AVERAGB  LENGTH. 

r 

Line  3. 

1.  Bead  of  brass. 

LENGTH. 

W 

Tubular. 

2.  Bead  of  jasper. 

l 

Tubular.  See  p.  48 

3.  Bead  of  quartz. 

8 

Tubular.  See  p.  48 

Six  sides. 

4.  Bead  of  quartz. 

i*" 

Tubular.  See  p.  48 

Four  sides. 

Line  4. 

Awl  of  bone. 

LENGTH. 

6g" 

Line  5. 

Awl  of  bone. 

6J” 

Line  6. 

Awl  of  bone. 

H" 

Line  7. 

1.  Fragment  of  “atlatl” 
bone. 

) 

2.  Projectile  point  of  bone. 

2g" 

VIEW  OF  THE  SUNFLOWER  RIVER,  LOOKING  WEST  FROM  THE  CAMP  AT  OLIVER,  MISSISSIPPI. 


sjsdRj  ujnssnjAj  Apoq^aj 


OF  EDWARDS  MOUND  AND  VICINITY,  OLIVER,  MISSISSIPPI. 


<s 


© 


VJ 

CD 

73 

O 


) 


© 


© 


© 

© 

© 

© 


<1 

o 

r 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


TYPICAL  CROSS-SECTION  OF  THE  EDWARDS  MOUND.  TAKEN  AT  STAKE  21. 


P 

-o 


> 


03 


O 


C3 


rn 


O  <7» 


03 


O 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


PHOTOGRAPH  SHOWING  METHOD  OF  EXCAVATION.  EASTERN  SLOPE  OF  EDWARDS  MOUND. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


“SCISSORS-SHAPE”  BURIAL.  SKELETON  14,  EDWARDS  MOUND. 


Museum  Papers- 


TYPICAL  “BUNDLE”  BURIAL.  SKELETON  12,  EDWARDS  MOUND. 


sjsdBd  uinasnm  XpoqBaj 


Peabody  ;  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  PL.  XII. 


POTTERY  FROM  OLIVER,  MISSISSIPPI. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


Vo  I,.  Ill,  I’L.  XII! 


POTTERY  FROM  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


POTTERY  FROM  OLIVER,  MISSISSIPPI. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


Voi.  Ill,  PL.  XV. 


) 


POTTERY  FROM  OLIVER,  MISSISSIPPI. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


Vol.  Ill,  Pl.  XVI. 


OBJECTS  OF  CLAY  AND  STONE  FROM  OLIVER,  MISSISSIPPI. 


VOL.  Ill,  l’L.  XVII. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


OBJECTS  OF  STONE  FROM  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


SMALLER  CHIPPED  POINTS  FROM  OLIVER.  MISSISSIPPI. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  1»L.  XIX. 


OBJECTS  OF  STONE  FROM  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


Vol.  Ill,  PL.  XX. 


MISCELLANEOUS  OBJECTS  EROM  COAHOMA  COUNTY,  MISSISSIPPI. 


THE  “COPIAH  COUNTY  WALL.”  OUTCROP  NEAR  BRANDYWINE,  MISSISSIPPI.  FROM  THE  SOUTH. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


THE  “COPIAH  COUNTY  WALL.”  OUTCROP  NEAR  BRANDYWINE,  MISSISSIPPI.  LOOKING  WEST. 


•etibody  Museum  Papers. 


PAPERS 

OF  THE 

PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


Vol.  III.  —  No.  3 


INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL 
MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN 


WILLIAM  C.  FARABEE. 


WITH  FIVE  FI.ATES 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MUSEUM 
March,  1905 

KRAUS  REPRINT  CO. 

New  York 

1969 


PAPERS 

OF  THE 

PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


Vol.  III.  —  No.  3 


INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL 
MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN 


WILLIAM  C.  FARABEE. 


WITH  FIVE  PLATES 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 

PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MUSEUM 
March,  1905 

KRAUS  REPRINT  CO. 

New  York 
1969 


Reprinted  with  the  permission  of  the  original  publisher 

KRAUS  REPRINT  CO. 

A  U.S.  Division  of  Kraus-Thornson  Organization  Limited 


Printed  in  U.S. A. 


NOTE. 


This  paper  is  a  brief  extract  from  a  thesis  by  Dr.  Farabee 
on  Hereditary  and  Sexual  Influences  in  Meristic  Variation,  ac¬ 
cepted  in  1903  for  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Philosophy  in  the 
Divison  of  Anthropology  of  Harvard  University.  It  embodies 
only  that  part  of  the  thesis  which  gives  the  results  of  Dr. 
Farabee’s  personal  research  on  the  Inheritance  of  Digital  Mal¬ 
formation  in  Man. 

For  the  means  of  carrying  on  this  investigation  as  well  as  for 
the  publication  of  this  paper  we  are  indebted  to  a  Friend  of  the 
Museum. 


Cambridge,  Mass., 

March  10,  1905. 


F.  W.  Putnam, 

Curator  of  the  Museum. 


INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS 
IN  MAN. 


A  great  deal  has  been  written  concerning  the  abnormities 
of  the  hands  and  feet,  and  numerous  cases  of  polydactylism, 
syndactylism,  ectrodactylism,  and  macrodactylism  have  been 
recorded;  but,  very  few  cases  of  hypophalangia  or  hyperpha- 
langia  have  ever  been  noted.  The  following  case  of  hypopha¬ 
langia,  or  diminution  in  the  number  of  phalanges,  came  under 
my  notice  a  few  years  ago  in  Pennsylvania.  After  careful 
examination  the  anomaly  was  found  to  be  interesting  not  only 
as  a  case  of  anatomical  variation,  but  also  as  a  study  in  heredity. 
All  the  digits  of  all  extremities  of  thirty-seven  persons  are 
affected  and  the  anomaly  is  inherited  in  conformity  with  Men¬ 
del’s  law  for  five  generations.  Measurements,  tracings,  photo¬ 
graphs,  radiographs,  plaster  casts,  and  complete  genealogical 
tables,  were  made.* 

As  shown  by  the  photograph  (Plate  xxm),  the  people  ap¬ 
pear  perfectly  normal  in  every  other  respect  and  seem  to  suffer 
very  little  inconvenience  on  account  of  the  malformation.  The 
ladies  complain  of  but  one  disadvantage  in  short  fingers,  and 
that  is  in  playing  the  piano;  they  cannot  reach  a  full  octave 
and  hence  are  not  good  players.  Among  the  men  are  farmers, 
mechanics,  business  men,  and  school  teachers.  One  man  is 
at  the  head  of  a  commercial  school  and  a  very  excellent  penman ; 
another  is  catcher  for  the  city  baseball  team.  The  hands  and 
feet  have  the  normal  number  of  digits  and  the  digits  have  the 
normal  proportions,  each  to  each.  The  thumbs  and  great  toes 
have  the  normal  number  of  phalanges,  but  the  first  phalanx 


*1  acknowledge  my  especial  obligation  to  Prof.  F.  W.  Putnam  under  whose  direc¬ 
tion  this  study  was  carried  on. 


(69) 


70  INHERITANCE  OP  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN. 

in  each  case  is  greatly  reduced  in  length, — so  much  so,  especially 
in  the  thumbs,  that  they  are  said  to  have  “double  jointed 
thumbs.”  The  radiograph  (Plate  xxvi)  shows  the  first  phalanx 
to  be  about  12  mm.,  and  the  distal  22  mm.,  respectively  in 
length.  Hence,  the  thumbs  thus  shortened  have  the  same 
relation  to  the  other  two  phalanged  digits  that  exists  in  the 
normal  hand.  Each  of  the  fingers  has  but  two  phalanges  in¬ 
stead  of  three.  The  metacarpal  bones  are  normal  except  in 
length,  being  reduced  in  relative  proportion  to  the  length  of 
the  digits.  The  following  table  gives  the  length  in  millimeters 
of  metacarpals  and  phalanges. 


TABLE  I. 


Length  of  Metacarpals  and  Phalanges. 


Metacarpal. 

Proximal.  Middle. 

Distal. 

Thumb 

34  mm. 

12  mm. 

22  mm. 

Index 

55  ‘  ‘ 

30  “ 

15  “ 

Middle 

55  “ 

40  “ 

15  “ 

Rinfr 

46  “ 

32  “ 

15  “ 

Little 

42  “ 

22  ‘  ‘ 

18  “ 

The  length  of  the  hand  is  162  mm.,  and  the  width  94  mm. 
In  a  few  cases  the  distal  phalanx  of  the  ring  finger  is  not  in 
line  with  the  proximal,  but  inclines  toward  the  middle  finger. 

The  hands  of  all  are  broad,  thick,  and  pulpy,  as  is  seen  in 
the  photographs  of  the  hands  (Plates  xxm,  xxiv,  xxv).  The 
joints  of  fingers  and  toes,  as  appeared  on  examination  and  as 
shown  by  the  radiographs  (Plates  xxvi,  xxvn),  are  loosely 
articulated.  This  may  account  for  the  lack  of  strength  in  the 
hands  which  was  spoken  of  by  many.  One  man,  who  has  been 
a  noted  wrestler,  said  that  his  defeats  were  due  to  his  weak 
hands.  The  table  n  also  shows  a  weak  grip.  This,  however 
was  not  a  fair  test  as  the  instrument  used  was  too  wide  for 
their  short  hands. 

The  feet,  as  shown  in  the  cast  and  the  outlines  of  the  radio¬ 
graph  (Plate  xxvn),  do  not  outwardly  appear  abnormal.  The 
toes  are  slightly  shorter  and  the  foot  a  little  thicker  than  normal 
but  not  enough  so  to  attract  attention.  The  bones,  however 


INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN.  71 


as  seen  in  the  radiograph,  present  precisely  the  same  condition 
as  already  noted  in  the  hands  and  all  that  has  been  said  in 
regard  to  the  relative  length  of  digits  and  phalanges  in  the 
hands  applies  equally  to  the  feet.  No  dissections  have  been 
made  of  the  hands  or  feet,  hence  we  are  deprived  of  the  light 
that  the  musculation  might  throw  upon  the  question  of  which 
is  the  missing  phalanx;  but,  judging  from  the  length,  size 
and  form  of  the  proximal  bones,  especially  the  size  and  form 
at  the  base, it  appears  that  the  bases  of  the  distal  phalanges  artic¬ 
ulate  with  the  heads  of  the  first  row.  Yet  one  is  hardly 
justified  in  saying  that  either  the  one  or  the  other  segment  is 
missing.  It  is  safer  to  say,  simply,  that  there  is  a  reduction 
in  the  number  of  phalanges. 

On  account  of  the  reluctance  to  submit  to  examination,  I 
was  able  to  take  measurements  of  only  three  adult  males,  one 
adult  female,  and  some  children.  The  numbers  measured  are 
too  few  for  the  results  to  be  of  any  particular  value,  except  to 
give  some  notion  of  their  relation  to  the  measurements  of  nor¬ 
mal  individuals.  Those  measured  are  fairly  representative  of 
all  families.  We  give,  in  table  11,  the  measurements  of  the 
female  and  the  average  of  the  three  males.  There  was  very 
little  variation  in  the  males.  The  height  of  the  males,  159  cm. 
or  5  ft.  3  in.,  is  much  below  the  average  height  of  normal  men. 
In  the  table  of  measurements,  I  have  placed  normal  measure¬ 
ments  secured  by  calculating  the  proportions  of  a  normal  indi¬ 
vidual  of  the  same  height.  The  average  span  of  the  arms,  or 
reach  of  the  males  is  but  146  cm.  while  normally  it  should  be 
165  cm.  The  reach  is  92%  of  the  height  against  104%  in  nor¬ 
mal  man.  The  reach  of  the  female  is  but  86.6%  of  the  stature. 
As  will  be  seen,  the  reduction  in  the  number  of  phalanges  does 
not  account  for  all  this  difference  in  reach.  It  is  distributed 
almost  equally  between  the  arm,  forearm,  and  hand.  The 
difference  in  reach  is  19  cm.;  in  whole  arm,  9.5  cm.;  in  upper 
arm,  3.1  cm.;  in  forearm,  3.2  cm.;  and  in  the  hand  3.2  cm. 
The  reach  diminished  by  the  sum  of  the  lengths  of  the  arms 
would  leave  the  width  of  the  body  about  normal.  On  account 
of  the  short  arms  the  body  has  the  appearance  of  being  very 
long,  but  by  consulting  the  table  it  will  be  seen  that  the  height 


72  INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN. 

sitting  is  very  nearly  normal.  The  length  of  the  foot  is  only 
2  cm.  short.  The  weight,  however,  is  16  lbs.  heavier  than  normal. 
There  does  not  appear  to  be  complete  correspondence  between 
the  upper  and  lower  extremities.  The  upper  are  shorter  than 
normal  in  every  part  whereas  the  lower  are  about  normal  in 
every  way  except  the  number  of  phalanges.  There  has  never 
been  a  single  instance  of  partial  inheritance,  but  in  all  cases  all 
extremities  have  been  affected  in  precisely  the  same  way.  This 
is  a  most  excellent  example  of  similar  and  simultaneous  varia¬ 
tion  in  both  extremities. 


TABLE  II. 

Measurements. 

Males.  Females. 

NORMAL.  ABNORMAL.  NORMAL.  ABNORMAL. 


Length  of  head 

18.8  cm. 

18  cm. 

W  idth  “  “ 

15.0  “ 

15.2  “ 

y  “  face 

13.5  “ 

13.6  “ 

Cephalic  index 

80 

84 

Height 

159  cm. 

159  cm. 

150  cm. 

150  cm. 

‘  ‘  sitting 

85  “ 

83  “ 

82  “ 

78  “ 

Reach 

165  “ 

146 

156  “ 

130  “ 

Length  of  arm 

71.5  “ 

62 

67  “ 

58  “ 

“  forearm  &  hand 

43.4  “ 

37  “ 

41  “ 

34  “ 

‘  ‘  2nd  finger 

7.9  “ 

6.4  “ 

7.4  “ 

5.7  “ 

‘  ‘  Hand 

18. S  “ 

15.6  “ 

17.1  “ 

14.2  “ 

Width  of  hand 

8  “ 

9.3  “ 

7  “ 

7.6  “ 

Length  of  foot 

25  “ 

23 

23.6  “ 

20  “ 

Width  “  “ 

9.2  “ 

9.9  “ 

8.2  “ 

8.6  “ 

Grip 

48.  kgm. 

28  kgm. 

25  kgm. 

12  kgm 

Weight 

139  lbs. 

155  lbs. 

129  lbs. 

144  lbs. 

The  family  tradition  is,  that  the  first  person  having  short 
digits  came  from  Normandy  in  the  army  of  William  the  Con¬ 
queror,  and  remained  in  England;  that  persons  with  short 
fingers  have  never  intermarried;  that  every  other  child  born 


INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN.  73 


of  a  short  fingered  parent  has  short  fingers;  and  that  no  long 
fingered  descendant  of  a  short  fingered  parent  ever  had  short 
fingered  children.  There  is  no  historic  evidence,  so  far  as  I  can 
learn,  to  support  the  first  part  of  the  tradition ;  it  may,  or  may 
not,  be  true.  The  fact  that  there  is  a  tradition  concerning 
the  anomaly,  without  accounting  for  its  origin,  may  be  taken 
as  partial  proof  that  the  origin  is  so  remote  that  it  has  been 
forgotten.  The  second  part  that  exogamy  has  been  the  custom, 
is  true  for  at  least  five  generations,  as  will  be  seen  in  table  V. 
It  would  be  very  interesting  indeed  if  this  part  of  the  tradition 
should  be  violated . 


HEREDITY. 

Probably  the  most  important  part  of  this  study  is  that 
relating  to  the  remaining  portions  of  the  tradition  concerning 
heredity.  At  present  the  question  of  heredity  is  one  of  live 
interest  on  account  of  the  testing  of  Mendel’s  discovery,  —  the 
law  of  heredity.  The  present  case  demonstrates  the  fact  that 
the  law  operates  in  man  as  well  as  in  plants  and  the  lower  ani¬ 
mals.  The  abnormality  here  is  shown  to  be  the  dominant 
character.  The  tradition  that  “every  other  child  has  short 
fingers,”  is  not  quite  true;  yet,  as  nearly  as  possible,  half  the 
offspring  have  the  anomaly.  This  is  in  perfect  conformity 
with  the  law,  the  underlying  principle  of  which  is  the  purity 
of  germ-cells  and  their  production  in  equal  members.  When 
there  is  a  union  of  normal  and  abnormal  individuals,  the  abnor- 
mals  producing  germ-cells  N  and  A  in  equal  numbers,  the 
chances  are  equal  that  germ-cell  N  of  one  sex  may  unite  with 
germ-cell  N  of  the  opposite  sex,  or  that  germ-cell  A  of  one  sex 
may  unite  with  germ  cell  N  of  the  opposite  sex.  Since  the 
abnormal  character  is  shown  to  be  dominant,  the  chances  are 
even  that  the  offspring  may  be  normal  or  abnormal.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  the  laws  of  chance  we  should  not  expect  that  every  other 
child  would  be  abnormal,  as  in  the  tradition,  but  we  should 
expect  the  total  number  of  normals  and  abnormals  in  a  large 
series  to  be  very  nearly  equal,  and  that  is  what  we  find  to  be 
true  here. 


74  INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN. 


TABLE  III. 


Order  of  Birth  and  Sex. 


GENERATION.  FAMILY.  ABNORMAL  PARENT. 


OFFSPRING. 


I 

II 

III 


IV 


V 


« 

( 


Unknown  f 

1  Female.  d'^cTcJ'c?  ft? 

2  Male.  9t9d'?#19??d1?*1 

3  Female.  $  ^  f 

4  Male,  f  t 

5  Female.  9  9  ?  d1  ? 

6  Female.  9^9 

7  Male.  9  f 

8  Male.#1 9?dV9??#1? 

9  Male.  9  d*  <d  ?  c? 

10  Female,  c?  9  d'#1d' f  t 

1 1  Female,  t  ^  9  cT  d 

12  Female. d 

13  Male.  9  f 

14  Female. d«T 


Explanation  of  characters: — 

d  normal  male.  9  normal  female. 

^  abnormal  male.  ?  abnormal  female. 


By  referring  to  table  iii  above  it  will  be  seen  that  normals 
and  abnormals  do  alternate  in  a  few  instances;  as  in  family  6 
where  there  are  three  children  ;  in  families  7,  13.  and  14,  where 
there  are  but  two  each ;  and  in  8  where  the  alternation  is  con¬ 
tinued  until  the  eighth  child.  But  this  rule  does  not  hold  in 
the  other  families.  In  families  9  and  10  the  first  three  children 
in  each  are  normal,  while  in  11  the  first  three  are  abnormal  and 
the  last  three  aie  normal.  It  will  be  noticed  that  the  first  child 
is  abnormal  in  but  three  of  the  fourteen  families,  and  the  second 
abnormal  in  nine  of  the  thirteen  families.  The  others  are  about 
evenly  divided.  The  total  number  of  offspring  descended  from 
abnormals  is  sixty-nine  of  whom  thirty-three  are  normal  and 


INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN.  75 

thirty-six  abnormal,  distributed  as  follows :  in  the  second  gen¬ 
eration,  four  normals  and  four  abnormals;  in  the  third,  five 
normals  and  seven  abnormals;  in  the  fourth,  seven  normals  and 
nine  abnormals ;  and  in  the  fifth,  seventeen  normals  and  sixteen 
abnormals. 

TABLE  IV. 

Sex  Relations. 

SEX  OF  NUMBER  NORMAL  ABNORMAL 
GENE-  ABNORMAL  OF 


RATION.  PARENTS.  OFFSPRING.  MALE.  FEMALE.  MALE.  FEMALE. 


I 

? 

9 

1 

II 

1 

female 

11* 

4 

0 

1 

3 

III 

1 

male 

12 

2 

3 

3 

4 

IV 

{  2 

males 

4 

0 

1 

0 

3 

1  3 

females 

12 

1 

5 

3 

3 

V 

f  3 

males 

17 

4 

4 

4 

5 

V 

4 

females 

16 

6 

3 

4 

3 

Table  iv  shows  that  the  abnormality  is  inherited  through 
both  sexes.  Six  abnormal  male  parents  have  twelve  males, 
six  normal  and  six  abnormal,  and  twenty-one  females,  eight 
normal  and  thirteen  abnormal;  while  eight  abnormal  female 
parents  have  nineteen  males,  eleven  normal  and  eight  abnormal, 
and  seventeen  females,  eight  normal  and  nine  abnormal.  Of 
the  descendants  of  the  six  males,  fifty  percent  of  the  males 
and  sixty-two  percent  of  the  females  are  abnormal ;  while,  among 
the  descendants  of  the  eight  abnormal  females,  only  forty-two 
percent  of  the  males  and  fifty-three  percent  of  the  females 
are  abnormal.  Fifty-eight  percent  of  all  the  descendants  of 
males  are  abnormal,  whereas  only  forty-seven  percent  of  the 
descendants  of  females  are  abnormal.  There  are  five  and  a  half 
times  as  many  offspring  as  abnormal  male  parents  and  only  four 
and  a  half  times  as  many  offspring  as  abnormal  female  parents. 
Forty-five  percent  of  all  descendants  are  males  and  fifty-five 
percent,  females.  Yet  the  whole  number  of  abnormal  males 


*Three  are  unknown. 


76  INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN. 

is  less  than  two-thirds  the  number  of  abnormal  females.  Of 
the  thirty-six  descendants  affected,  twenty-two  are  females 
and  but  fourteen  are  males,  or  sixty-one  and  thirty-nine  percents 
respectively.  Forty-five  percent  of  all  males  and  fifty-eight 
percent  of  all  females  are  abnormal.  It  thus  appears  that  the 
males  are  more  prolific  than  the  females;  that  a  higher  percent 
of  the  offspring  of  males  than  of  females  are  abnormal ;  and  the 
female  offspring  of  both  male  and  female  parents  are  more  often 
abnormal.  The  numbers  here  compared  are  too  small  to  base 
conclusions  upon,  yet  the  sexual  differences  are  so  marked  that 
they  must  be  of  some  significance. 

Table  v  gives  the  genealogy  of  the  abnormals  only  —  the 
number  and  sex  of  normal  and  abnormal  offspring  in  each  gen¬ 
eration.  It  shows  that  exogamy  has  been  the  custom  in  all 
these  generations.  Table  vi  gives  all  the  known  normals  and 
abnormals  and  proves  the  last  part  of  the  tradition,  —  that  no 
normal  descendant  of  an  abnormal  parent  has  had  abnormal 
offspring.  We  have  here  three  complete  lines  of  descent  from 
the  second  generation  to  the  fifth  and  all  descendants  are  known 
in  tvfro  of  these  lines.  In  all,  twenty-one  normals  have  married 
other  normals  outside  the  family  and  have  had  born  to  them 
seventy  children,  not  one  of  whom  is  abnormal.  According 
to  former  theories  it  should  be  expected  that  the  character 
would  reappear  somewhere  in  these  lines;  but  according  to 
Mendel’s  law,  even  if  the  character  were  recessive,  wre  should 
not  expect  it  to  reappear  at  all,  since  these  families  practised 
exogamy.  Luckily,  for  the  testing  of  recession,  two  cousins 
in  the  third  generation  married  and  had  only  normal  offspring. 
This  is  shown  in  the  table  by  uniting  two  of  the  lines  of  descent 
to  form  a  new  one.  If  the  character  were  recessive  it  should 
certainly  appear  here,  but  it  does  not. 

It  will  be  noticed  that  fourteen  normal  parents  in  the  fourth 
generation  have  but  twenty-eight  offspring,  whereas  seven 
abnormal  parents  have  thirty-three.  This  does  not  signify 
that  the  abnormals  are  prepotent,  as  might  be  inferred.  The 
cause  was  explained  by  one  of  the  abnormal  ladies,  wrho  said: 
“They  always  pick  us  up  first.”  The  abnormals  all  along  the 
line  have  married  earlier  in  life  than  the  normals,  so  that  when 


iJJTi  ?tut  usis  $  ?<?*<?  t?  £ 


TABLE  V. 


.NORMAL.  A.  ABNORMAL.  (  ),  NUMBER  LEAVING  OFFSPRING. 


TABLE  VI. 


INHERITANCE  OF  DIGITAL  MALFORMATIONS  IN  MAN.  77 


the  fifth  generation  is  reached  their  families  number  ten,  seven, 
five,  etc.,  while  the  normals  in  many  cases  have  but  one  child. 
In  a  short  time,  at  the  present  rate,  the  abnormals  will  have 
gained  a  generation. 

A  very  careful  study  was  made  to  ascertain  whether  or  not 
any  other  characteristics  of  an  abnormal  parent  were  inherited 
by  the  abnormal  offspring.  Besides  the  measurements  taken 
many  other  things  were  noted ;  as,  color  of  eyes  and  hair,  form 
of  head,  facial  expression,  and  other  individual  characters.  The 
only  constant  accompanying  characters  found  were  the  short 
arms  and  short  stature.  In  every  case  the  abnormal  man  is 
shorter  and  stouter  than  his  normal  brother,  and  the  abnormal 
woman,  than  her  normal  sister.  I  regret  that  it  was  impossible 
to  get  a  photograph  of  a  group  of  normals  and  abnormals  to 
show  this  difference  in  stature. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOI-.  Ill,  PL.  XXIII. 


MR.  A.,  SHOWING  STATURE  AND  SHORT  HANDS. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL  III,  Pl.  XXIV. 


HANDS  OF  MR.  A.,  SHOWING  THEIR  BREADTH  AND  THE  LENGTH  OF  THE 

FINGERS. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers, 


VOL.  Ill,  PL.  XXV. 


HANDS  OF  MR.  A’S  MOTHER. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  PL.  XXVI. 


RADIOGRAPH  OF  THE  LEFT  HAND  OF  A’S  BROTHER,  SHOWING  THE  TWO 
PHALANGED  DIGITS  AND  THEIR  LOOSE  ARTICULATION.  3/5  SIZE. 


Peabody-  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Iir,  Pl.  XXVII 


RADIOGRAPH  OF  LEFT  FOOT  OF  MR.  A.,  SHOWING  THE  TWO  PHALANGED 

DIGITS.  I  SIZE. 


PAPERS 

PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 

Vol.  III.  —  No.  4 


THE  MANDANS 

A  STUDY  OF  THEIR 

CULTURE,  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  LANGUAGE 


G.  F.  WILL 

AND 

H.  J.  SPINDEN 


WITH  FOUR  MAPS,  FIFTEEN  PLATES  AND  SIXTEEN  ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  THE  TEXT 


Cambridge,  Mass. 
Published  by  the  Museum 
August,  1906 


PAPERS 


OF  THE 


PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


Vol.  III.  —  No.  4 


THE  MANPANS 

A  STUDY  OF  THEIR 

CULTURE,  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  LANGUAGE 


G.  F.  WILL 

AND 

H.  J.  SPINDEN 


WITH  FOUR  MAPS,  FIFTEEN  PLATES  ANI)  SIXTEEN  ILLUSTRATIONS 
IN  THE  TEXT 


Cambridge,  Mass. 
Published  by  the  Museum 
August,  1906 


EDITORIAL  NOTE. 


During  the  summer  of  1905  the  authors  of  this  paper,  two 
Harvard  students  of  the  class  of  1906,  carried  on  the  explora¬ 
tion  of  an  ancient  Indian  site  in  North  Dakota.  Dr.  R.  B.  Dixon 
accompanied  the  party  to  North  Dakota  and  remained  with 
them  for  several  days  to  direct  the  beginning  of  the  field  work. 
The  exploration  was  a  successful  one  and  secured  for  the  Mu¬ 
seum  an  important  archaeological  collection.  On  their  return 
to  college  these  students  made  a  study  of  the  Mandan  culture 
and  language  under  the  guidance  of  Dr.  Dixon.  The  following 
paper  embodies  the  results  of  their  researches —  archaeological, 
historical  and  linguistic.  From  a  comparative  study  of  the 
archaeological  material  and  the  historical  data,  they  draw  the 
conclusion  that  the  site  explored  is  one  of  the  ancient  Mandan 
sites  of  which  there  is  traditional  and  historical  evidence. 

The  four  heliotype  plates  are  from  photographs  taken  by 
Mr.  Will  and  Mr.  Spinden.  The  other  plates,  maps  and 
illustrations  in  the  text  are  from  drawings  by  Mr.  Spinden. 

The  exploration  was  under  the  auspices  of  the  Peabody 
Museum  and  was  made  possible  by  the  generous  gift  of  Mr. 
Clarence  B.  Moore  (H.  U.  1873). 

F.  W.  Putnam, 

Curator  of  the  Peabody  Museum. 

Harvard  University, 

June  16,  1906. 


(81) 


PREFACE. 


In  1904  one  of  the  authors  became  interested  in  the  history 
and  culture  of  the  Mandans,  and  later  prepared  an  historical 
and  descriptive  sketch  of  this  interesting  people.  In  1905  an 
opportunity  for  archaeological  field  work  led  to  the  formation 
of  a  small  party  of  students,  who  carried  on  investigations  over 
a  period  of  six  weeks  in  the  region  formerly  occupied  by  this 
tribe.  The  party  consisted  of  Mr.  R.  R.  Hellmann  (H.  U.  ’06) 
and  Mr.  H.  A.  Nye  (H.  U.  ’06),  in  addition  to  the  authors  of  this 
paper.  While  working  over  the  archaeological  and  historical 
material  collected,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to  add  the  con¬ 
sideration  of  available  linguistic  data.  The  result  of  these 
several  investigations  is  embodied  in  the  following  paper. 

Thanks  are  due  to  Mr.  Martin  Burgois  for  his  courteous  per¬ 
mission  to  conduct  exploration  on  his  land ;  and  also  to  Dr. 
Rawlings,  Mr.  L.  Sperry  and  Mr.  T.  Griffin,  all  of  Bismarck, 
N.  D.,  and  to  Mr.  E.  R.  Steinbrueck  of  Mandan,  N.  D.,  for 
various  favors. 

In  the  preparation  of  the  paper,  thanks  are  due  to  Professor 
F.  W.  Putnam  for  his  kindly  advice  and  criticism,  and  to  Dr. 
W.  C.  Farabee  for  valuable  service  rendered  in  the  identification 
of  the  animal  remains  and  the  measurements  of  the  human 
bones.  Above  all,  the  authors  desire  to  thank  Dr.  R.  B.  Dixon 
for  his  untiring  aid  and  thorough  supervision. 

G.  F.  W.  &  H.  J.  S. 


Harvard  University, 
June  15,  1906. 


(83) 


Map.  I.  THE  MIDDLE  MISSOURI. 


THE  MAN  DANS. 


A  Study  of  their  Culture,  Archaeology  and  Language. 


As  yet  very  little  archaeological  work  has  been  done  on  the 
old  sites  of  the  Mandan  villages  in  North  Dakota,  although  they 
are  numerous,  interesting,  and  rich  in  material  relating  to  the 
past  life  of  the  people.  The  sites  in  some  places  have  been 
injured  by  plowing  and  farming,  but  most  of  them  are  in  good 
condition,  though  in  a  precarious  situation  owing  to  the  rapid 
settlement  and  increasing  cultivation  of  the  land  about  them. 
Many  of  the  sites  have  been  marred  by  relic  hunters  and  inex¬ 
perienced  collectors,  but  none  are  seriously  damaged. 

Besides  the  collection  in  the  Peabody  Museum  at  Cambridge 
which  forms  the  basis  of  the  archaeological  section  of  this  paper, 
collections  from  this  region  are  also  in  the  possession  of:  the 
American  Museum  of  Natural  History  in  New  York,  the  Min¬ 
nesota  State  Historical  Society,  the  North  Dakota  State  His¬ 
torical  Society  and  the  National  Museum  in  Washington.  The 
Minnesota  and  North  Dakota  collections,  while  large  and  inter¬ 
esting,  were  not  the  result  of  careful,  systematic  work  on  any 
one  site. 

No  single  site  has  yet  been  fully  investigated,  and  the  work 
last  summer  was  the  first  attempt  at  a  thorough  exploration.  A 
complete  excavation  of  the  entire  site  was  beyond  the  resources 
of  the  expedition, which  confined  itself  to  a  detailed  examination 
of  certain  selected  areas.  There  still  remains  a  wide  field  for 
additional  investigation. 

On  the  ethnological  side  little  further  research  is  possible 
owing  to  the  practical  extinction  of  the  tribe.  All  that  can  be 
done  is  to  assemble  and  sift  the  considerable  mass  of  informa¬ 
tion  to  be  gathered  from  the  accounts  of  early  travellers. 

(85) 


86 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  position  of  the  Mandans  on  the  main  travelled  road  up 
the  Missouri  to  the  fur  country,  the  fact  that  their  villages 
were  one  of  the  recognized  stops  on  this  journey,  and  their 
difference  from  the  average  Plains  Indians  which  surrounded 
them,  caused  travellers  to  take  especial  note  of  them.  More¬ 
over,  there  were  many  wonderful  tales  concerning  them  scattered 
abroad  over  the  country,  started  probably  by  their  own  less 
cultured  neighbors.  Hence  there  are  a  number  of  historical 
accounts  running  from  the  early  part  of  the  18th  century,  to 
the  middle  of  the  19th.  Only  a  few  of  these  make  any  mention 
of  the  old  village  sites. 

The  first  known  account  of  the  Mandans  is  that  of  the  Sieur 
de  la  Verendrye.1  As  agent  of  a  Canadian  fur  company,  he 
made  the  trip  across  country  from  the  Portage  du  Prairie  to  the 
Mandan  villages  in  the  fall  of  the  year  1738.  His  account  is 
some  fifteen  pages  long,  and  is  very  interesting  as  giving  the  only 
picture  of  the  Mandan  period  of  prosperity  which  can  be  obtain¬ 
ed.  He  was  led  to  make  this  trip  to  extend  the  fur  trade  and 
because  of  the  wonderful  stories  related  to  him  by  the  Assini- 
boines.  Verendrye  in  his  visit  to  the  Mandans  was  disappointed 
because  they  did  not  come  up  to  these  tales. 

There  is  a  long  jump  between  Verendrye ’s  account  and  that 
of  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  this  gap  is  bridged  only  by  an  account 
which  cannot  be  found  and  is  only  known  to  exist  by  mention 
of  it  in  a  letter.2  It  is  said  to  be  the  story  of  a  certain  McKenzie, 
who  in  the  employ  of  a  Canadian  fur  company  visited  the  Man¬ 
dans  in  1772  and  brought  back  a  glowing  account  of  them. 

Lewis  and  Clarke,3  however,  are  the  next  certain  chroni¬ 
clers.  They  arrived  among  the  Mandans  in  the  fall  of  1S04, 
and  spent  the  winter  at  Fort  Mandan  in  the  neighborhood  of  the 
Mandan  villages.  Their  account  is  good,  but  the  details  are 
scattered  and  must  be  collected  from  a  mass  of  other  material. 
They  furnish  practically  the  only  information  concerning  the 

1  Brymner:  Report  on  the  Canadian  Archives,  1889,  pp.  3-29.  Margry,  P. :  De- 
oouvertcB  et  Etablissements  des  Francois  dans  l’Ouest  et  dans  le  Sud  de  l’Amerique 
septentrionale,  vol.  VI,  pp.  592  et  seq.  Paris,  1836. 

Quoted  in  Schoolcraft :  History,  Condition  and  Prospects,  vol.  Ill,  p.  253. 

■  All  tlie  important  editions  of  the  Journals  have  been  examined;  for  conven¬ 
ience.  reference  will  usually  be  made  to  date  of  entry  only. 


THE  MANDANS. 


87 


location  and  early  condition  of  the  archaeological  remains  both 
of  the  Mandans  and  Arikara,  and  their  account  is  thus  doubly 
valuable. 

Next  in  point  of  time  comes  the  journal  of  Alexander  Henry, 
who  visited  the  Mandans  during  the  year  1806.  He  was  a  trader 
for  the  Northwest  Company  and  came  to  the  Mandans  in  con¬ 
nection  with  the  fur  trade.  He  kept  a  fairly  full  journal,  which 
was  edited  and  published  by  Dr.  Elliot  Coues.1  In  this  he  gives 
the  details  of  several  weeks  residence  among  the  Mandans  and 
Hidatsa  with  reasonably  full  descriptions  of  many  interesting 
details  of  their  life. 

After  Henry,  came  two  men  of  lesser  importance,  but 
who  give  some  additional  facts,  although  devoting  most  of  their 
space  to  the  Arikara.  These  are  Brackenridge 2  and  Brad¬ 
bury,3  who  came  together,  in  1810,  and  each  of  whom  later 
printed  an  account  of  their  journey.  The  former  was  an  Amer¬ 
ican,  the  latter  an  Englishman  of  scientific  interests. 

The  next  authority,  chronologically,  is  the  artist  and  Indian 
lover,  George  Catlin.4  He  visited  the  Mandans  in  the  spring  of 
1833,  and  has  devoted  almost  two  hundred  pages  in  his  “  North 
American  Indians”  to  an  extended  account  of  that  tribe.  All 
his  work  is  colored  by  his  romantic  imagination  and  deep  love 
for  the  Indians,  nevertheless  in  matters  of  actual  fact  he  seems 
to  be  as  reliable  as  any  other  authority,  judging  from  compari¬ 
son  with  Maximilian  and  others.  Catlin  became  a  great  sup¬ 
porter  of  the  wild  theory  that  the  Mandans  were  of  Welsh  origin, 
little  of  this  appears,  however,  in  his  main  work,  and  his 
facts  have  not  been  interfered  with  by  his  theories.  His  draw¬ 
ings  are  probably  a  little  idealized,  but  they,  too,  afford  a  reason¬ 
ably  accurate  source  of  information.5  Withal  it  may  be  said 
that  while  Catlin ’s  theories  are  to  be  questioned,  his  facts  are  of 
value. 


1  New  Light  on  the  Early  History  of  the  Greater  Northwest;  the  Manuscript  Jour¬ 
nals  of  Alexander  Henry  and  David  Thompson.  1799-1814,3  vola.  New  York,  1897. 

2  Journal  of  a  Voyage  up  the  River  Missouri.  Baltimore,  1810. 

3  Travels  in  Interior  America.  Liverpool,  1817. 

4  North  American  Indians.  New  York,  1841. 

e  Matthews:  The  Earth  Lodge  in  Art.  Amer.  A  nth.  (N.  S.),  vol.  IV,  pp.  1 
et  seq. 


88 


THE  MANDANS. 


After  Catlin  comes  Maximilian,  Prince  of  Wied-Neuwied.1 
During  the  winter  of  1833-4  he  passed  several  months  among 
the  Mandans,  and  has  given  us  a  minute  and  accurate  account  of 
the  manners  and  customs  of  the  people  in  so  far  as  he  observed 
them.  In  addition  he  has  given  one  of  the  best  vocabularies 
of  Mandan  and  almost  the  only  grammatical  sketch  of  that  lan¬ 
guage.  This,  though  incomplete,  is  of  great  value.  There  is 
nothing  romantic  and  imaginative  in  Maximilian’s  style  and 
treatment  of  the  Mandans,  and  he  may  be  justly  recognized  as 
the  best  of  the  various  authorities. 

Besides  these  more  important  chroniclers  of  the  Mandans 
there  is  a  group  of  minor  authorities  to  whom  something  is  due 
for  an  occasional  fact.  Most  of  these  men  have  taken  their 
accounts  almost  wholly  from  the  above  first-hand  narratives, 
making  in  some  cases  small  additions  of  their  own.  First  in 
this  group  is  Patrick  Gass,2  a  member  of  the  Lewis  and  Clarke 
expedition.  With  the  exception  of  McKenzie  and  Larocque,3 
two  Northwest  Company  men  who  tell  us  scarcely  anything, 
he  is  the  only  one  of  the  minor  authorities  who  writes  from  per¬ 
sonal  observation.  The  others  are  men  who  have  only  con¬ 
densed  what  has  been  gathered  by  reading,  such  are  School¬ 
craft.,4  Hayden,5  and  Matthews.” 

The  remains  which  form  a  basis  for  the  archaeological  section 
of  the  present  paper  are  part  of  a  single  village  site.  There  are 
numerous  other  sites  of  a  similar  type  scattered  from  the  Grand 
River  in  South  Dakota,  to  the  north  side  of  the  Knife  River  in 
North  Dakota.  These  sites  are  attributed  to  two  different 
tribes,  the  Mandans  and  the  Arikara.  We  may  first  consider 
the  remains  which  seem  to  be  of  Mandan  origin. 

The  field  in  which  these  sites  are  found  is  restricted  to  an 
area  along  the  Missouri  River  from  a  few  miles  south  of  Apple 


1  Voyage  en  l’Amerique  duNord.  Paris,  1843. 

2  .Journal  of  the  Voyages  and  Travels  of  a  corps  of  Discovery  under  the  com¬ 
mand  of  Captain  Lewis  and  Captain  Clarke.  Philadelphia,  1812. 

3  Journals  in  Masson,  Les  Bourgeois  de  la  Campagnie  du  Nord-Ouest,  vol.  II. 
Quebec,  1889. 

4  Op.  cit.,  vol.  Ill,  pp.  248  et  seq. 

5  Contributions  to  the  Ethnography  and  Philology  of  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the 
Missouri  Valley.  Trans.  Am.  Philos.  Soc.  (N.  S.),  vol.  XII,  pp.435  et  seq. 

*  Ethnography  and  Philology  of  the  Ilidatsa  Indians.  Washington,  1877. 


THE  MANDANS. 


89 


Creek  in  Burleigh  Co.,  North  Dakota,  to  a  point  some  fifteen 
miles  south  of  the  Knife  River  in  Mercer  Co.,  North  Dakota, 
and  this  field  is  again  subdivided  into  the  historical  and  the 
more  or  less  traditional  sites.  Of  the  former  little  will  be  said. 
They  are  the  remains  of  villages  which  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Maxi¬ 
milian,  Catlin,  and  other  early  travellers  visited,  and  are  situated 
on  the  Missouri  about  fifteen  miles  below  the  Knife  River.  There 
is  another  small  set  of  remains  intermediate  between  the  tradi¬ 
tional  and  the  historical,  the  stopping  place  between  the  former 
and  the  latter.  These  intermediate  sites  are  on  the  south  side 
of  the  Missouri  on  the  bluffs  southwest  of  Washburn,  and  are 
rather  closely  connected  with  several  Arikara  sites. 

We  are  concerned  here,  however,  with  the  oldest  villages 
which  were  visited  by  only  two  white  men  who  have  left  ac¬ 
counts,  the  Sieur  de  Verendrye,  and  McKenzie,  whose  account 
is  mentioned  by  D.  D.  Mitchell  in  a  letter  to  Schoolcraft.  The 
question  might  be  raised  as  to  how  it  is  known  that  the  sites 
visited  by  Verendrye  and  McKenzie  were  the  oldest  ones.  The 
statement  of  McKenzie  that  on  his  visit  the  Mandans  lived  in 
nine  villages  should  suffice  to  establish  this.  According  to  all 
accounts,  after  the  removal  from  the  early  sites  the  Mandans 
did  not  have  at  any  time  over  five  villages,  and  these  soon  shrank 
to  even  fewer.  If  McKenzie  found  nine  villages  in  1773  the 
Mandans  must  have  been  occupying  the  earlier  sites,  and  cer¬ 
tainly  if  they  were  there  in  1773,  they  were  very  probably  there 
in  1738.  The  further  fact  that  Verendrye  describes  the  Man¬ 
dans  as  being  in  full  power  and  prosperity  shows  also  that  they 
had  as  yet  suffered  none  of  the  losses  by  disease  and  war  which 
caused  their  removal  to  the  later  villages. 

The  location  of  these  oldest  Mandan  sites  comes  up  next  for 
consideration.  They  were  situated  on  the  Missouri  River  near 
the  Heart  River,  some  above,  some  below,  on  both  sides  of  the 
former,  but  the  number  of  villages  is  uncertain.  The  location 
near  the  Heart  is  affirmed  by  all.  Lewis  and  Clarke’s  Journal,1 
March  10,  1805,  says,  “The  Mandans  formerly  lived  in  six 
(nine)  large  villages  at  and  above  the  mouth  of  the  Heart 
River.’’  Maximilian2  says,  “After  the  first  alliance  with  the 

1  Thwaites  Edition,  voi.  I,  p.  271.  2  Op.  cit.,  p.  436. 


90 


THE  MANDANS. 


Hidatsa,  the  Mandans  lived  in  eight  or  nine  villages  at  and 
above  the  Heart  River.” 

The  number  of  these  ancient  villages  is  a  problem  which  it 
is  impossible  to  settle  definitely.  Even  an  exact  and  thorough 
canvas  of  the  ground  cannot  settle  this,  as  changes  of  the  river 
may  have  caused  the  entire  disappearance  of  some  sites.  His¬ 
torical  and  archaeological  evidence  alike  leave  one  in  doubt. 
Verendrye,  who  visited  but  one  Mandan  village,  says,  ‘‘I  was 
answered  that  there  were  five  forts  on  the  two  banks  of  the 

river . much  larger  than  the  one  we  are  in.  ’ 11  But 

further  on  he  makes  this  additional  statement,  ‘‘We  noticed 
that  in  the  plain  were  several  small  forts  of  forty  to  fifty  huts 

. but  no  one  was  there . The  forts  in  the  plains 

were  occupied  during  the  summer  to  work  their  fields . 

there  was  a  large  store  of  reserve  grain  there.  ’  ’2  Next  in  point 
of  time  comes  Lewis  and  Clarke’s  account,  from  which  may  be 
given  three  extracts.  ‘‘These  villages,  nine  in  number  are 
scattered . for  twenty  miles, . almost  all  that  re¬ 

mains  of  them  is  the  wall  surrounding  them  and  the  fallen  heaps 
of  earth  which  covered  the  houses.”3  Again,  ‘‘Within  the 
recollection  of  living  witnesses,  the  Mandans  were  settled  .  .  .  . 

in  nine  villages . about  eighty  miles  below . 

seven  on  the  west  and  two  on  the  east  side  of  the  Missouri.  The 

two . wasting  before  the  smallpox  and  the  Sioux  united 

into  one  village  and  moved  up  the  river  opposite  to  the  Ricaras. 


The  same  causes  reduced  the  seven  to  five . they  immi¬ 
grated  . to  the  Ricara  Nation . ”  Also, 11  ‘‘The 

Mandans  formerly  lived  in  six  (nine)  villages  .  .  .  four  (six)  on 


the  west  side,  two  (three)  on  the  east.  One  of  those  on  the  east 
and  the  largest  was  entirely  cut  off  by  Sioux  and  smallpox.”5 
Here  is  disagreement  of  the  same  authority  both  in  the  total 
number  of  villages  and  in  the  relative  distribution  on  the  two 
sides  of  the  river. 

Catlin  is  the  next  writer  who  gives  a  version  of  the  tradition, 
and  in  his  North  American  Indians8  is  the  statement  that  the 
Mandans  formerly  lived  down  river  in  ten  villages.  Maximilian, 

1  Bryraner :  op.  cit.,  p.  19.  5  Ibid.,  p.  23.  3  Oct.  22,  1804. 

4  Nov.  21, 1S04.  6  Mar.  10,  1805.  Thwaites  Edition,  I,  p.  271.  ®  p.  81. 


THE  MANDANS. 


91 


who  next  claims  attention,  gives  at  least  two  different  versions 
of  the  story.  In  one  place1  he  makes  the  statement  that  the 
Mandans  formerly  lived  in  thirteen  or  more  villages,  each  had  a 
name  and  they  distinguished  themselves  thus:  1.  Pheasant 
Village,  2.  Village  of  (the  people  of)  the  West,  3.  Bear  Village, 
4.  Badger  Village,  5.  Prickly  Pear  Village,  6.  Village  of  the 
Sulky  Ones,  because  they  separated  from  part  of  their  nation 
to  come  up  the  Missouri.  Here  is  a  notable  discrepancy  be¬ 
tween  the  stated  number  of  villages  and  the  number  of  names 
given.  In  another  place  he  states2  that  after  the  first  alliance 
with  the  Hidatsa  the  Mandans  lived  in  eight  or  nine  villages: 
1.  The  South  Village,  2.  The  Greatest  Village,  3.  The  Scattered 
Village,  4.  The  Littlest  Village,  5.  The  Village  of  Those  Who 
Turn  Back,  6.  The  Village  on  the  Hill,  7.  The  Village  of  Those 
Who  Separate  their  Legs,  8.  The  Village  of  Those  Who  Tattoo 
Themselves. 

Thus  the  authorities  not  only  disagree  with  each  other,  but 
even  vary  their  own  statements.  Verendrye  says  six  and  a 
number  of  smaller  ones;  McKenzie,  nine;  Lewis  and  Clarke, 
from  six  to  thirteen,  at  various  times.  Through  all  of  these 
accounts,  nine  seems  to  be  the  favorite  number,  but  it  might 
hardly  be  safe  to  fix  it  at  that.  Perhaps  the  discrepancy  can 
best  be  accounted  for  by  remembering  Verendrye ’s  story  of 
the  summer  villages,  and  the  fact  that  Maximilian  speaks  of 
villages  in  the  woods  occupied  for  a  short  time  during  the  worst 
of  the  winter.  Another  factor  which  may  have  a  bearing  on 
the  matter  is  the  old  tradition  mentioned  by  Maximilian3  that 
the  Hidatsa  lived  near  the  Mandans  for  a  few  years  after  their 
arrival,  and  before  moving  up  to  the  Knife  River.  Con¬ 
sidering  these  facts  together  with  the  prevailing  traditional 
number  of  nine,  it  might  be  concluded  that  at  the  time  of  resi¬ 
dence  on  the  Heart  River  there  were  nine  actual  fixed  villages, 
and  an  uncertain  number  of  smaller  and  less  fixed  camps.  This 
can  be  only  regarded  as  a  hypothesis. 

Archaeological  evidence  is  also  conflicting  on  this  subject. 
Lewis  and  Clarke  noted  a  number  of  the  remains  in  passing,  and 
probably  a  series  of  quotations  from  them  will  best  bring  out 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  370.  2  Ibid.,  p.  436.  2  ibid.,  p.  435. 


92 


THE  MANDANS. 


the  points  of  location  which  should  be  emphasized.  In  Allen’s 
Lewis  and  Clarke  are  the  following  entries: 

“Oct.  19.  1S04.  We  camped  on  the  north  opposite  to  the 

uppermost  of  a  number  of  round  hills . Near  to  one  of 

these  moles  on  a  point  of  a  hill  ninety  feet  above  the  plain 
are  the  remains  of  an  old  village . ’  ’ 

‘  ‘  Oct.  20.  After . twelve  miles  we  encamped  on  the 

south  at  the  upper  part  of  a  bluff . immediately  below 

. are  the  remains  of  a  village  formerly  occupied  by  the 

Mandans.  ’  ’ 

“  Oct.  21.  At  two  miles  from  our  encampment . ruins 

of  a  second  Mandan  village . on  the  north  at  the  foot  of  a 

hill  in  a  beautiful . plain . nearly  opposite  are  re¬ 
mains  of  a  third  village  on  the  south . another . two 

miles  further  on  the  north.  At  a  distance  of  seven  miles  we 
encamped . ’’ 

“Oct.  22.  We  passed  an  old  Mandan  village  on  the  south 


. at  four  miles  another  on  the  same  side . at  six 

we  reached  an  island  about  one  mile  in  length,  at  the  head  of 
which  is  a  Mandan  village  on  the  north  in  ruins . at 


eight  miles  are  remains  of  another  Mandan  village  on  the  south.” 

Here  is  an  actual  description  and  more  or  less  definite  loca¬ 
tion  of  nine  seemingly  very  noticeable  village  sites. 

Maximilian’s1  notes  on  the  subject  come  next  with  the  fol¬ 
lowing  extracts:  “  ....  a  chain  of  hills  called  the  mountains 
of  the  old  Mandan  village,  for  one  of  their  villages  had 

been  where  the  river  cuts  the  chain . It  was  at  the  foot 

of  a  chain  of  hills  on  a  fine  plain  not  far  from  the  river. 

. Here  began  the  Mandan  territory . [Later  on 

same  day]  We  cut  wood  near  the  mouth  of  Apple  Creek.  ’  ’ 

“Next  day  we  came  in  sight  of  Square  Buttes . After 

eight  hours  we  came  to  an  old  Mandan  village  on  the  right  in 
the  prairie.  ’  ’ 

The  archaeological  information  collected  by  this  party  in¬ 
creases  the  uncertainty.  No  complete  archaeological  survey 
was  attempted  and  the  location  of  sites  other  than  those  per¬ 
sonally  visited  will  not  be  discussed.  The  accompanying  map 


1  Op.  cit.,  pp.  10  to  23. 


THE  MANDANS. 


93 


(Map  I)  marks  roughly  the  sites  as  judged  from  the  above  ex¬ 
tracts  from  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and  more  accurately  the  sites  which 
have  been  actually  seen  in  the  course  of  this  investigation.  The 
first  site  encountered  in  the  above  extracts  is  approximately  on 
the  south  bank  of  Apple  Creek  above  some  round,  clay  buttes. 
This  one  was  not  visited.  The  second  site  is  on  the  west  side  of 
the  river  at  the  base  of  the  hill  on  which  the  infantry  post  of 
Fort  Abraham  Lincoln  was  formerly  located.  This  site  was 
examined,  and  it  is  accurately  marked  on  the  map.  Of  the  next 
two  sites  one  on  the  east  and  one  on  the  west,butlittle  can  be  said. 
The  first  certainly  is  on  the  outskirts  of  the  present  town  of  Man- 
dan.  The  other  one  possibly  has  disappeared  in  the  river.  At  all 
events,  the  only  corroboration  found,  after  having  been  over  the 
country,  is  a  small  site  on  the  point  of  a  bluff  about  one  mile 
above  the  Northern  Pacific  Railroad  bridge  over  the  Missouri. 
It  is  not  so  plain  as  the  others,  nevertheless  on  a  cursory  in¬ 
vestigation  and  excavation  by  our  party  it  showed  signs  of 
lengthy  occupation.  The  next  site  mentioned  by  Lewis  and 
Clarke  is  stated  to  be  “  two  miles  further  on  the  north  and  a 
little  off  the  river.  ”  Of  this  no  trace  has  been  found,  unless  it 
be  that  at  the  Sperry  farm.  This  one  is  about  five  miles 
above  the  other  site;  it  is  on  a  bluff,  bordering  what  was  for¬ 
merly  a  creek,  and  is  about  two  miles  from  the  river.  In  some 
respects  this  fills  the  requirements,  in  point  of  distance,  however, 
it  hardly  fits  with  the  account. 

Of  the  locations  of  the  three  other  villages  on  the  west  side 
of  the  river  Lewis  and  Clarke ’s  account  does  not  furnish  suf¬ 
ficiently  accurate  details,  although  a  careful  examination  of  the 
ground  might  make  them  clear.  Only  one  more  site  is  men¬ 
tioned  by  Lewis  and  Clarke  on  the  east,  and  this,  it  is  believed, 
is  the  one  where  the  excavations  hereinafter  described  were 
made.  This  last  site  was  by  their  reckoning  about  thirteen 
miles  above  their  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln  camp,  at  the  head 
of  an  island.  The  site  at  which  the  excavation  was  carried 
on  is  probably  fourteen  miles  north  of  their  camp.  It  is  at  the 
head  of  a  broad  place  in  the  river  where  there  is  a  small  island 
now.  Mr.  Burgois,  who  has  lived  in  the  neighborhood  for  a 
number  of  years,  says  that  formerly  the  island  was  much 


94 


THE  MANDANS. 


larger.  This  is  the  only  widening  of  the  river  where  an  island 
could  form  within  the  distance  stated,  and  lastly  the  site  is  in  a 
very  conspicuous  situation  on  the  top  of  a  hill.  The  earthworks 
are  larger  than  is  usual  around  the  other  sites,  and  in  every  re¬ 
spect  the  place  is  apt  to  attract  the  attention  of  any  one  passing 
up  river. 

At  a  distance  of  some  three  miles  further  up  on  the  same  side 
is  another  village  site  not  quite  as  large.  It  is  hidden  now  from 
the  river  by  cottonwoods  which  have  grown  up  in  front  of  it; 
the  site  lies  on  the  very  edge  of  the  first  bench  in  a  level  plain. 
The  finds  there  agree  with  those  in  the  other  places  and  it  is 
very  evidently  a  remnant  of  the  same  people.  This  gives  four 
known  sites  on  the  east  side. 

On  every  hand  thus  it  is  evident  that  there  is  great  uncer¬ 
tainty.  The  number  of  sites  is  far  from  certain.  The  sites  can¬ 
not  be  absolutely  identified  even  when  historically  described  — 
neither  locations  nor  distribution  according  with  descriptions 
given.  The  fact  that  the  Mandans  have  a  tradition  of  the 
Hidatsa  living  near  them  for  a  while  also  adds  to  the  confusion. 
But  the  tradition  as  given  by  Maximilian1  states  also  that  the 
Hidatsa  were  a  roving  people,  and  non-agricultural  on  their 
arrival.  Consequently  there  would  probably  be  little  difficulty 
in  distinguishing  their  sites.  Moreover,  the  Hidatsa  are  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  stayed  there  only  four  or  five  years,  and  then  to 
have  proceeded  up  to  the  Knife  River. 

One  more  phase  of  the  location  question  remains  to  be  dis¬ 
cussed.  The  last  disturbing  feature  in  identifying  the  sites  is 
the  wandering  of  the  Arikara  who,  as  has  been  said,  also  left 
a  number  of  village  sites.  It  is  probable,  however,  that  the 
Heart  River  area  was  never  occupied  by  them  for  any  actual 
settlement.  For  this  belief  a  number  of  reasons  may  be  given. 
The  Arikara  are  a  branch  of  the  Skidi  Pawnee  which  split  off 
through  some  quarrel  and  started  off  independently,  reaching  in 
the  course  of  time  the  Missouri  River  and  ascending  it  b}r  stages. 
Their  villages  were  stationary  and  much  like  the  Mandans  but 
none  of  them  seem  to  have  been  as  permanent  as  those  of  the 
latter.  This  fact  offers  one  reason  for  supposing  that  such 


Op.  cit.,  p.  435. 


THE  MANDANS. 


95 


Heart  River  sites  as  were  seen  were  not  of  Arikara  origin,  for 
the  deposits  in  each  place  show  a  very  long  period  of  occupa¬ 
tion.  If  the  Arikara  had  just  separated  from  the  Pawnees  at 
the  time  of  Verendrye’s  visit,  they  certainly  did  not  have  time 
to  accumulate  such  deposits  before  Lewis  and  Clarke  came. 

However,  a  brief  consideration  of  what  is  known  of  their 
movements  is  still  worth  something  though  the  evidence  is  nega¬ 
tive.  Verendrye1  gives  the  following  account  of  the  Arikara:  — 
“At  a  day’s  journey  from  the  last  of  these  were  the  Panana 

. then  the  Panani.  These  two  nations  .  .  .  were  now 

at  war  for  four  years,  had  always  ....  been  closely  united  .  .  .  ” 
This  extract  seems  to  place  the  time  of  the  separation  at 
about  1734.  The  Arikara  were  seen  in  1804  when  Lewis  and 
Clarke  visited  them,  and  at  that  time  they  lived  in  three  villages 
at  the  mouth  of  the  Grand  River.  On  the  way  up,  both  on  the 
Cheyenne  and  Moreau  rivers  old  Arikara  villages  were  noted  and 
placed  on  the  map.  Later  in  1812  Bradbury  in  the  description 
of  his  journey  says  that  they  still  occupied  the  Grand  Rnrer  site. 
However,  during  the  period  before  Lewis  and  Clarke’s  arrival 
other  moves  had  been  made.  Lewis  and  Clarke2  state  that 
after  smallpox  destroyed  most  of  the  Mandan  nation,  reducing 
them  to  one  large  and  some  small  villages  they  moved  up  into 
the  Arikara  country  where  they  lived  many  years  in  peace. 

Alexander  Henry3  says  that  the  Arikara  and  Mandans  lived 
together  in  the  same  village  thirty  leagues  down;  they  sepa¬ 
rated  and  the  Arikara  went  down,  the  Mandans  up  till  stopped 
by  the  Hidatsa. 

Maximilian4  states  that  thirty-seven  years  before,  when 
Charboneau  came,  the  Arikara  lived  on  a  point  just  above  the 
largest  Mandan  village.  After  that  they  moved  back  down 
stream  and  the  Mandans  plundered  their  village. 

The  only  point  in  all  the  above  which  seems  to  connect  the 
Arikara  with  the  Heart  River  sites  is  the  statement  by  Henry 
that  the  two  nations  lived  together  at  thirty  leagues  south. 
The  circumstances  of  this  seem  to  point  to  the  site  opposite 
Washburn,  and  it  may  be  safe  to  consider  his  estimate  of  the 


1  Op.  cit.,  19. 

3  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  334. 


3  Nov.  12,  1804. 

4  Op.  cit.,  p.  338. 


96 


THE  MANDANS. 


distance  as  an  error  in  stating  the  story.  The  more  so  since 
details  coincide  with  accounts  of  the  Washburn  site. 

Reviewing  the  whole  question  of  the  Ankara’s  locations, 
there  are: — a  site  on  the  Cheyenne  River,  one  on  the  Moreau 
Ri  ver,  one  on  the  Grand  River,  and  one  some  fifty  miles  above 
the  Heart.  River,  near  Washburn.  In  1738  they  were  on  or 
near  the  Grand,  and  there  again  in  1804.  Maximilian  says  that 
before  the  smallpox  the  Mandans  feared  no  one,  but  that  the 
Arikara  and  the  Cheyennes  were  their  natural  enemies.  Tak¬ 
ing  into  account  the  last  statement  and  also  the  fact  that  during 
the  period  of  sixty-six  years  the  Arikara  established  such  a 
number  of  villages,  and,  moreover,  that  the  Mandan  alliance 
with  the  Arikara  is  placed  in  all  the  traditions  as  after  the  fall 
of  the  Mandans,  it  may  be  safely  stated  that  the  Arikara  are 
not  responsible  for  any  of  the  Heart  River  sites. 

In  the  discussion  the  location  and  number  of  the  sites  has 
now  been  treated  and  there  are  points  which  should  be 
emphasized.  The  only  facts  which  are  certain  are  that  the 
Mandans  formerly  had  at  least  six  large  villages  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  of  the  Heart  River  which  were  abandoned  between  1772 
and  1804,  and  that  there  are  at  least  six  old  village  sites  which 
can  still  be  located  in  that  region.  In  addition  there  are  the 
following  which  while  not  definitely  proved,  may  be  regarded  as 
highly  probable:  that  the  Heart  River  sites  are  identical  with 
the  Mandan  ones;  that  they  cannot  be  attributed  to  the  Hi- 
datsa  with  any  reason;  and  lastly  that  there  is  no  proof  for,  and 
much  circumstantial  evidence  against  the  belief  that  any  of  this 
group  of  sites  is  due  to  the  Arikara.  Details  of  culture,  his¬ 
torical  evidence,  and  archaeological  finds,  will  reenforce  belief 
in  the  mutual  identitjq  and  from  now  on  all  sites  of  the  Heart 
River  area  will  be  considered  as  of  Mandan  origin. 


SECTION  I. 


HISTORY,  LIFE  AND  CUSTOMS. 

Origin: —  From  the  previously  mentioned  historical  sources 
an  attempt  will  now  be  made  to  give  a  brief  account  of  the 
Mandans  as  they  were  seen  by  travellers.  First,  however,  comes 
the  discussion  of  their  origin  and  migration,  for  the  most  part 
theoretical,  but  supported  to  some  extent  by  evidence.  The 
Mandans  had  a  tradition  of  coming  out  of  the  earth,  nothing 
unusual  in  itself,  but  in  relating  this  story  they  also  told  Maxi¬ 
milian  that  they  came  from  the  east  out  of  the  earth  and  struck 
the  Missouri  at  the  White  Earth  River  in  South  Dakota.  The 
eastern  origin  corresponds  with  that  of  the  rest  of  the  Siouan 
stock  to  which  the  Mandans,  both  linguistically  and  to  a  con¬ 
siderable  extent  in  their  culture,  belong.  The  Ohio  valley  would 
seem  to  have  served  as  a  point  of  dispersal  whence  the  Plains 
members  of  the  Siouan  stock  are  supposed  to  have  moved  in 
four  successive  migrations.  The  earliest  group  to  leave  con¬ 
sisted  apparently  of  the  Mandan,  Hidatsa,  and  Crow,  and  of 
these  the  Mandan  were  probably  a  number  of  years  ahead  of 
the  other  tribes.  The  Mandans  have  fairly  vivid  traditions 
of  the  coming  of  the  Hidatsa  many  years  after  the  former  had 
established  fixed  villages  on  the  Heart  River. 

They  describe1  the  Hidatsa  as  a  wild  wandering  people 
whom  they  taught  to  build  stationary  villages  and  to  raise  corn, 
pumpkins  and  other  vegetables,  and  who  soon  moved  up  to  the 
Knife  River.  If  this  tradition  has  any  truth  in  it,  it  seems  to 
establish  the  Mandans  as  the  first  nation  in  the  successive 
Siouan  migrations.  The  orderof  migration  is  placed  as  follows: — 

1.  Mandan,  Hidatsa,  Crow. 

2.  Iowa,  Otoe,  Missouri,  Winnebago. 

3.  Omaha,  Ponca,  Osage,  Kansas,  Kwapa. 

4.  Dakota,  Assiniboine. 


1  Maximilian :  p.  435. 


(97) 


9S 


THE  MANDANS. 


In  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Dakotas,  the  last  migrants, 
were  already  in  Wisconsin  and  Minnesota.  Part  of  group  three 
was  already  on  the  plains  when  De  Soto  made  his  journey  in 
1542.  If  some  of  the  members  of  group  three  were  already 
established  on  the  plains  in  the  sixteenth  century,  the  establish¬ 
ment  of  the  Mandans  on  the  Missouri  presumably  occurred  at 
least  as  early  and  probably  earlier.  Thus  the  beginning  of  the 
westward  movement  of  the  tribe  may  be  carried  back  into  the 
fifteenth  century.  That  the  separation  occurred  thus  early  is 
not  difficult  to  believe  when  one  considers  the  wide  divergence 
of  language  which  has  taken  place  between  the  different  groups. 
To  this  evidence  of  an  early  establishment  on  the  Missouri  River 
must  be  added  the  fact  that  in  the  traditions  and  religion  all 
episodes  and  beliefs  are  localized  about  the  region  of  the  Heart 
River.  The  gods  created  the  Heart  River  region  first,  and 
there  they  soon  placed  the  Mandans.  Few  of  the  traditions  go 
further  back  than  the  Heart  River  period,  and  little  of  the  my¬ 
thology  has  reference  to  any  other  region.  Archaeological 
evidence  certainly  corroborates  this  tradition  of  long  occupa¬ 
tion,  for  at  the  Lincoln  site  the  refuse  forms  a  talus 
deposit  at  least  three  feet  in  thickness  and  extending 
thirty  feet  from  top  to  bottom.  At  the  site  at  which  investi¬ 
gations  were  carried  on  the  ground  at  every  point  showed 
potsherds  and  refuse  to  a  depth  of  two  and  one  half  to  three 
feet.  The  whole  area  of  the  village  shows  this  accumulation, 
sometimes  even  deeper,  a  condition  of  affairs  which  only  years 
of  occupancy  could  produce. 

It  has  been  shown  that  the  Mandans  lived  on  the  Missouri 
for  many  years  and  that  previous  to  this  they  probably  oc¬ 
cupied  some  portion  of  the  Ohio  valley.  The  next  question  is 
how  did  they  make  the  journey  between  the  new  and  the  old 
home.  Did  they  cut  across  direct  to  the  Missouri,  as  the  second 
group  probably  did,  or  did  they  lead  the  way  for  the  third  group 
down  the  Ohio  to  the  Missouri,  and  thence  upward  along  the 
river?  This  question  cannot  as  yet  be  satisfactorily  answered. 
Catlin  claims  to  have  seen  remains,  similar  to  those  on  the  Heart 
River,  scattered  all  along  the  Missouri  from  St.  Louis  up. 
Clarke  describes  an  ancient  fortification  near  Bon  Homme 


THE  MANDANS.  99 

Island  in  South  Dakota  and  was  told  by  traders  that  there  were 
a  number  of  others  about  that  country.  Maximilian  was  told 
that  the  Mandans  first  touched  the  Missouri  at  White  Earth 
River  in  South  Dakota,  with  which  might  be  connected  the 
reported  existence  of  the  remains  of  circular  earth  lodges  in 
southern  Wisconsin.  Here  are  arguments  for  both  theories; 
up  to  the  present,  however,  the  matter  must  remain  unsettled 
until  some  careful  investigation  decides  it. 

History  :  —  In  the  earliest  historical  accounts  the  Mandans 
were  firmly  established  in  stationary  villages  in  the  neighbor¬ 
hood  of  the  Heart  River.  Verendrye  says  that  they  lived  in 
six  large  villages  along  the  Mandan  River,  were  a  large  and 
powerful  nation  and  feared  none  of  their  neighbors,  all  of  whom 
they  dominated  by  their  superior  culture.  Their  manufactures 
were  almost  necessities  among  the  other  tribes,  and  in  trade 
they  were  able  to  dictate  their  own  terms.  The  forts  he  said 
were  impregnable  to  Indians,  being  very  well  fortified.  Veren¬ 
drye  visited  the  smallest  village  in  which  he  said  that  there  were 
one  hundred  and  thirty  houses  by  actual  count.  His  son,  who 
visited  one  of  the  larger  villages,  declared  that  it  was  twice  as 
large,  judging  from  which  it  can  safely  be  assumed  that  there 
were  at  least  one  thousand  houses  in  the  several  villages.  Lewis 
and  Clarke  declared  that  in  the  two  villages  of  one  hundred  huts 
there  were  three  hundred  and  fifty  warriors;  figuring  at  this 
rate  there  should  have  been  at  least  fifteen  thousand  Mandans 
in  1738  dwelling  prosperously  in  large  and  well-fortified  towns. 

For  the  next  sixty-six  years  there  is  little  information  but 
their  own  tradition.  Judging  from  McKenzie’s  narrative  they 
continued  prosperous  and  powerful  up  to  1772  at  least.  He 
declared  that  at  that  time  they  lived  in  nine  villages,  large  and 
near  to  each  other,  and  could  muster  fifteen  thousand  warriors. 
The  latter  estimate  is  probably  large,  but  the  whole  statement 
seems  to  show  that  no  misfortune  had  come  to  them  at  that 
date.  Their  remaining  history  is  summed  up  in  their  own 
tradition  as  related  to  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Maximilian  and  others. 

This  tradition  runs  as  follows:- — Formerly  they  lived  hap¬ 
pily  and  prosperously  in  nine  large  villages  on  the  Missouri 
near  the  mouth  of  the  Heart  River.  Six  or  seven  of  these  vil- 


100 


THE  MANDANS. 


lages  were  on  the  west  side  and  two  or  three  were  on  the  east 
side  of  the  river.  Maximilian  gives  names  for  fourteen  villages 
which  have  been  already  quoted.  For  a  great  many  years 
they  lived  there  when  one  day  the  smallpox  came  to  those  on 
the  east  side  of  the  river.  While  this  smallpox  was  still  rife, 
the  Sioux  attacked  and  destroyed  the  east  villages.  The  sur¬ 
vivors  then  proceeded  up  the  river  some  forty  miles  where  they 
all  settled  in  one  large  village.  Soon  after  the  smallpox  re¬ 
duced  the  villages  on  the  west  to  five,  and  still  later  the  five 
went  up  to  where  the  others  were  in  the  neighborhood  of  some 
Arikara,  and  settled  in  two  villages.  A  great  many  people 
had  been  destroyed  and  they  were  now  no  longer  strong  and 
fearless.  They  made  an  alliance  with  the  Arikara  against  the 
Sioux.  So  far  the  tradition  is  our  only  authority,  and  all  this 
had  happened  before  the  year  1796. 

In  Henry  and  Schoolcraft  is  the  statement  that  in  1796  the 
two  villages  on  the  south  united,  and  both  the  one  on  the  south 
and  the  one  on  the  north  moved  up  river  some  distance.  From 
this  time  on  there  is  a  nearly  continuous  chronicle.  Lewis  and 
Clarke  found  the  two  villages  one  on  each  side  and  about  fifteen 
miles  below  the  Knife  River.  At  that  time  both  villages  con¬ 
sisted  of  forty  to  fifty  lodges  and,  united,  could  raise  about  three 
hundred  and  fifty  men.  Lewis  and  Clarke  describe  them  as 
engaging  in  continual  warfare  with  the  Arikara  and  Sioux 
against  whom  they  united  with  the  Hidatsa.  The  description 
given  by  Lewis  and  Clarke  agrees  with  the  conditions  some  two 
years  later  when  Henry  visited  them. 

Thereafter  no  particular  event  marks  the  history  of  the  Man- 
dans  for  some  years.  The  Arikara  went  up  and  lived  near 
them  again  for  a  time,  but  soon  went  back  to  the  Grand  River. 
Catlin  found  them  in  practically  the  condition  in  which  Lewis 
and  Clarke  saw  them,  and  so  did  Maximilian.  Maximilian  says 
they  still  lived  in  the  two  villages;  the  largest  on  the  south  side 
was  Mih-toutta-Hangkouche  and  consisted  of  about  sixty 
lodges.  The  smaller  one,  Rouhptare,  was  on  the  north  and 
consisted  of  thirty-eight  lodges.  The  villages  were  still  fortified, 
though  poorly,  and  there  had  been  little  change  in  the  condition 
of  the  people. 


THE  MANDANS. 


101 


In  1837,  however,  another  great  calamity  came  upon  the 
Mandans.  Again  smallpox  attacked  them,  raged  for  many 
weeks  and  finally  left  but  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  souls.1 
These  were  taken  in  by  the  Arikara  with  whom  they  inter¬ 
married;  finally  they  separated,  again  forming  a  small  village 
of  their  own  at  Ft.  Berthold.  In  1850  there  were  three  hun¬ 
dred  and  eighty-five  living,  but  these  were  very  largely  of  mixed 
blood.  To-day  there  are  only  a  few  of  the  full-blood  Mandans 
left,  although  the  latest  official  returns  give  a  total  of  two 
hundred  and  forty-nine.  The  culture  has  changed,  the  language 
has  changed,  and  as  a  nation  the  Mandans  are  practically 
extinct. 

Physical  Characteristics:  — A  discussion  of  the  physical 
characteristics  of  the  Mandans  is  rather  interesting  in  view  of 
the  fact  that  so  many  tales  of  their  being  a  white  race  were  circu¬ 
lated.  Verendrye  was  told  by  the  Assiniboine  that  he  was  on 
the  way  to  visit  people  white  like  himself.  The  Assiniboine 
word  for  the  Mandans,  ouachipanne,  was  the  close  relative  of 
the  Mandan  word  for  white  man,  ouachi.  Gatlin  became  con¬ 
vinced  of  the  white  origin  of  the  Mandans  and  Verendrye  and 
Henry  both  commented  on  their  light  complexions. 

Verendrye  said  he  expected  to  see  a  different  sort  of  people 
but  they  differed  little  from  the  Assiniboine.  Then  later: 
“This  nation  is  mixed  white  and  black.  The  women  are  fairly 
good  looking  especially  the  white,  and  many  have  blond 

hair . The  men  are  stout  and  tall . with  a 

good  physiognomy.  The  women  have  not  the  Indian  physi¬ 
ognomy . ”2 

Lewis  and  Clarke  did  not  mention  any  particular  difference 
between  the  Mandans  and  other  Indians  of  the  region,  although 
Catlin  relates  that  when  he  left  St.  Louis  to  ascend  the  Missouri, 
Governor  Clarke  told  him  that  he  was  going  among  a  strange 
people,  half  white.  Henry,  however,  did  notice  some  pecul¬ 
iarities  in  the  Mandan  physique.  He  says3  that  in  general  the 
Mandans  had  not  the  coarse  hair  of  Indians,  it  was  finer,  rather 
inclining  to  dark  brown,  and  some  had  fair  hair.  The  eyes  of 
the  Mandans  were  not  as  black  as  usual,  but  brown  and  some 

1  Schoolcraft:  vol.  Ill,  p.  254.  2  Op.  pit.,  p.  21.  3  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  341. 


102 


THE  MANDANS. 


grey.  He  also  says  there  were  several  children  whose  hair  was 
perfectly  grey,  these  were  mostly  girls. 

Catlin1  possibly  exaggerates  the  physical  differences.  His 
account  states  that  their  personal  appearance  at  once  showed 
them  as  more  than  savages;  there  were  many  shades  of  com¬ 
plexion  and  hair;  many  women  had  white  skin  with  hazel,  blue, 
and  grey  eyes;  they  showed  every  shade  of  hair  except  red; 
some  had  hair  perfectly  white  or  a  silvery  grey,  women  more 
than  men;  the  grey  hair  was  very  coarse,  while  the  other  hair 
was  fine  and  soft. 

Maximilian  took  particular  pains  to  ridicule  the  theory  of 
white  origin  and  especially  that  of  Welsh  origin.  But  even  he 
admits  the  peculiarity  of  complexion  seen  at  times.  On  this 
subject  he  said  that  they  were  usually  brown  or  copper  colored, 
some  were  yellow  or  whitish.  When  clean  there  were  a  num¬ 
ber  who  were  nearly  white  with  red  cheeks;  they  had  long  coarse 
hair  usually  black,  but  many  children  had  brown  hair;  there 
were  families  with  grey  hair;  one  family  contained  members 
with  brown,  black,  grey,  and  white  hair  and  eye-lashes.2  So 
much  for  color.  There  can  be  little  question  that  there  was 
a  tendency  toward  light  complexion  among  the  Mandans,  and 
all  of  the  authorities,  even  Maximilian,  express  the  opinion  that 
this  was  not  from  contact  with  the  whites.  Among  the  Hidatsa 
and  Crow  as  well  is  found  the  phenomenon  of  grey  and  white 
haired  women  and  children,  but  there  is  no  account  of  the 
brown,  soft  hair,  and  light  skin  further  described  by  the  earliest 
visitors  to  the  Mandans.  As  to  the  cause  of  this  light  skin 
which  appeared  now  and  then  it  is  difficult  to  decide.  It  seems, 
however,  to  place  the  Mandans  among  the  tribes  where  partial 
albinism  was  of  frequent  occurrence.  It  is  almost  needless  to 
say  that  there  is  absolutely  no  trace  either  in  language  or  in 
physical  characteristics  of  any  European  origin  or  admixture. 

Next  is  the  question  of  size  and  general  physique.  Veren- 
drye3  says: — ‘  ‘  The  men  are  stout  and  tall,  generally  very  active, 
fairly  good  looking.  ...”  In  a  note  appended  to  the  location 
of  an  old  Mandan  village,  on  one  of  Lewis  and  Clarke’s  maps 
are  the  following  words,  “here  human  bones  of  large  size.” 

1  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  93.  2  Op.  cit.,  pp.  374-5.  3  Op.  cit.,  p.  21. 


THE  MANDANS. 


103 


Henry  says,1  the  men  were  tall,  stout  and  well  built.  Max¬ 
imilian  also  testifies  along  the  same  line:  ‘  ‘  Most  of  the  Mandans 
are  vigorous  men,  strong  and  large.  ’  ’2  And  adds  later  that  they 
were  a  strong  race,  a  little  above  medium  height,  possibly  not 
as  large  as  the  Minnetarees,  robust,  with  broad  shoulders.3 
Judging  from  the  information  so  far,  the  Mandans  should  be 
considered  a  large  race,  but  on  the  other  side  there  is  the  state¬ 
ment  from  Catlin4  that  the  stature  of  the  Mandans  was  below 
the  ordinary,  but  they  were  well  proportioned.  All  of  these 
observers  but  Catlin  thus  speak  of  the  Mandans  as  above 
average  height. 

For  a  further  description  of  the  Mandan  physique  there  are 
only  a  few  words  from  Maximilian, r>  who  says  that  they  had  a 
less  aquiline  nose  than  their  neighbors,  less  prominent  cheek 
bones  than  the  Dakotas;  thin  noses  and  straight;  long,  narrow 
eyes  of  a  deep  brown,  a  little  raised  and  contracted  at  the  inner 
corner;  large  mouth,  large  angular  jaws,  various  shaped  heads, 
but  foreheads  no  lower  on  the  average  than  among  Europeans. 

Villages: — The  Mandans,  as  has  been  said,  were  a  sedent¬ 
ary  tribe  and  lived  in  fixed  villages  for  long  periods  of  time.  In 
these  villages  they  built  lasting  lodges  of  a  type  similar  to  those 
of  the  Arikara,  Omaha,  and  other  tribes  lower  down  the  Mis¬ 
souri,  though  with  small  differences  in  the  details  of  construc¬ 
tion.  The  villages  were  usually  well  fortified,  neat  and  orderly 
in  the  early  days,  but  a  considerable  change  seems  to  have  come 
upon  the  people  after  their  misfortunes,  for  there  was  much 
less  care  taken  in  the  arrangement  and  fortification  of  the  vil¬ 
lages  in  their  later  locations.  The  first  description  of  the  Mandan 
village  is  from  Verendrye,  who  makes  it  appear  almost  a  model 
town.  As  this  is  the  only  description  of  the  Mandan  villages 
during  the  prosperity  of  the  nation,  a  summary  of  his  account 
is  here  given:0 

“Many  people  came  to  meet  us  but  nothing  in  comparison 
with  what  appeared  on  the  ramparts  and  along  the  trenches. 
....  Their  fort  can  only  be  gained  by  steps  or  posts  which  can 


be  removed  when  the  enemy  threatens . If  all  the  forts  are 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  341.  2  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  29.  a  Ibid.,  p.  372. 

4  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  95.  6  Op.  cit.,  p.  37.  6  Op.  cit.,  pp.  17-23. 


104 


THE  MANDANS. 


alike,  they  may  be  called  impregnable  to  Indians . Their 

fortifications  are  not  Indian . Their  fort  is  full  of  caves 

in  which  are  stored  such  articles  as  grain,  food . I  walked 

about . their  fort . there  were  one  hundred  and 

thirty  of  them  [huts].  All  the  streets,  squares  and  huts  re¬ 
sembled  each  other . The  streets  and  squares  very  clean, 

the  ramparts  very  level  and  broad;  the  palisades  supported  on 
cross-pieces  mortised  into  posts  of  fifteen  feet.  At  fifteen  points 
doubled  are  green  skins  which  are  put  for  sheathing  when  re¬ 
quired,  fastened  only  above  and  in  places  where  needed.  As 

in  the  bastions . at  each  curtain  well  flanked  ....  The 

fort  is  built  on  a  height  in  the  open  prairie  with  a  ditch  upward 

of  fifteen  feet  deep  and  fifteen  to  eighteen  feet  wide . 

The  Sieur  Nolant  and  my  son  arrived  [from  the  other  village] 

. The  fort  is  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  as  large  again  as 

this.  The  squares  and  streets  were  very  fine  and  clean.  Their 

palisade  is  in  the  best  order  and  strength . built  in  the 

same  fashion  as  the  one  in  which  we  were . All  their  forts 

were  alike . some  much  larger  than  others.  ’  ’ 

There  is  a  little  note  from  Schoolcraft1  to  add,  vTho  says  that 
about  1750  the  Mandans  lived  on  the  Heart  River  in  nine  vil¬ 
lages  surrounded  by  circular  walls  of  earth,  with  no  ditches. 
For  this  information,  however,  he  cites  no  authority. 

For  the  later  Mandan  villages  there  is  something  of  a  de¬ 
scription  from  most  of  their  visitors.  Lewis  and  Clarke  have 
very  little  to  say  on  this  subject,  but  Henry,  Maximilian,  and 
Catlin,  all  give  good  descriptions.  Verendrye  mentions  squares 
and  streets  as  though  the  early  villages  vrere  arranged  in  some 
regular  manner,  while  the  very  opposite  seems  to  be  true  in  the 
later  visited  places. 

A  composite  description  drawn  from  the  various  sources 
will  perhaps  give  the  best  possible  picture  of  the  larger  village 
below  the  Knife  River.  The  whole  towm,  according  to  Maxi¬ 
milian,  had  a  very  small  diameter.  It  wras  situated  in  an  ex¬ 
tensive  plain  on  a  bluff  about  forty  or  fifty  feet  high  on  the 
south  bank  of  the  Missouri.  From  a  distance  it  looked  like  a 
mass  of  mole  hills,  with  numbers  of  grass  blades  grovdng  be- 


1  Op.  cit.,  vcl.  Ill,  p.  248. 


THE  MANDANS. 


105 


tween,  these  were  the  scalp  poles  and  effigies  of  the  gods.  The 
ground  on  which  the  village  was  located  was  chosen  for  defence, 
the  bluff  on  the  river  side  went  down  perpendicularly,  and  the 
village  was  on  a  point  jutting  out  into  the  river  so  that  only 
one  side  needed  protection.  Across  this  point  was  a  palisade 
and  inside  this  was  a  ditch,  three  to  four  feet  deep  according  to 
Catlin.  The  palisade,  he  says,  was  of  timbers  eighteen  feet 
high  and  one  or  more  feet  in  diameter,  set  far  enough  apart  to 
allow  of  shooting  between.  The  warriors  stayed  in  the  ditch 
in  defending  the  palisade.  Concerning  this  palisade  Henry  and 
Maximilian  both  mention  that  it  was  in  very  poor  repair 
indeed,  but  Henry  adds  that  he  was  told  it  could  be  put  in 
good  condition  very  soon,  every  person  in  the  village  lending 
a  hand.  There  is  yet  no  mention  of  bastions  and  ramparts 
such  as  Verendrye  refers  to,  but  Maximilian1  describes  some¬ 
thing  similar.  He  says  that  at  the  corners  of  the  palisade  in 
four  places  were  arcs  or  bastions,  which  formed  an  angle  open 
toward  the  village,  and  said  to  have  been  built  by  the  whites. 
These  were  intrenchments  in  the  form  of  an  arc,  covered  with 
a  matting  of  willow  and  having  loop  holes. 

On  entering  the  village  it  seemed  to  be  a  mass  of  circular 
houses  from  forty  to  ninety  feet  in  diameter,  set  down  hap¬ 
hazard  closely  crowded  together.  The  houses  were  of  earth 
with  a  smooth  coating  of  pounded  clay  on  the  top,  where  most 
of  the  inhabitants  were  usually  stationed.  Before  each  house 
was  a  scaffold,  fronting  the  covered  entrance.  These  scaffolds 
were  six  feet  high,  twenty  feet  long  and  ten  broad2  and  were 
used  for  hanging  up  corn  and  meat  to  dry.  They  had  a  good 
floor,  also,  which  was  covered  in  the  fall  with  drying  beans.  The 
staging  for  drying  corn  and  meat  was  made  as  follows:3  posts 
were  set  up  on  the  scaffolds  themselves,  across  these  rafters 
were  laid,  and  upon  these  cross  rafters  or  poles  the  corn, 
meat  and  sliced  squashes  were  hung.  Before  almost  every 
house  were  one  or  more  poles  about  twenty  feet  high,  to 
which  images  of  the  gods,  or  sacrifices  to  them  were 
attached. 

In  the  center  of  the  village  was  a  large  open  space  of  about 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  31.  2  Henry  :  yol.  I,  p.  340.  3  Ibid. 


10G 


THE  MANDANS. 


four  acres1  and  in  the  center  of  this  was  the  “Ark  of  the  First 
Man.”  This  was  in  the  shape  of  a  hogshead,  of  planks  and 
hoops.2  It  was  open  above,  the  planks  were  embedded  in  the 
ground,  anti  the  hoops  were  branches  tied  around  to  hold  these 
together.  The  Mandans  called  this  the  Big  Canoe3  and  in  it 
were  some  of  their  greatest  medicines.  This  open  space  was 
the  seat  of  all  their  festivals,  dances  and  ceremonies,  and  here 
also  they  played  their  games  of  Chungkee  or  Skohpe.  The 
space  was  closely  surrounded  by  houses  placed  at  equal  dis¬ 
tances  apart  and  all  facing  the  center.  The  largest  of  these 
lodges  on  the  south  side  of  the  area  was  the  medicine  lodge,  and 
on  a  pole  above  this  was  a  figure  of  skin,  with  a  carved  wooden 
head,  which  represented  the  Evil  Spirit. 

About  one  quarter  of  a  mile  or  less  to  the  south  of  the  vil¬ 
lage  was  a  race-course ;  a  hundred  or  more  scaffolds  on  which 
the  dead  were  deposited;  slides  for  their  games  were  also 
made  outside  the  palisades.  The  ground  about  the  houses  was 
honeycombed  with  pits  and  caches  in  which  most  of  the  food 
and  many  of  the  valuables  of  the  inhabitants  were  stored.  The 
house  roofs  formed  a  general  repository  where  bull  boats,  buffalo 
skulls,  pottery,  sledges  and  people  were  scattered  promiscu¬ 
ously  over  the  rounded  surface,  around  the  edge  of  which  Brad¬ 
bury  says  they  built  a  sort  of  low  railing. 

Houses: — The  houses  themselves  were  many  times  de¬ 
scribed,  sometimes  with  considerable  A^ariation,  and  it  is  highly 
probable  that  there  was  more  or  less  variation  of  construction 
in  the  minor  details.  They  were  distinguished  from  those  of 
the  Arikara  in  that  the  ground  was  first  excavated,  and  that 
they  were  rather  hemispherical,  AA'hereas  the  houses  of  the  latter 
were  more  conical,  like  those  of  the  Pawnee.  Catlin4  places 
the  average  size  of  the  houses  at  from  forty  to  sixty  feet  in 
diameter,  depending  on  the  size  and  importance  of  the  family, 
and  Henry5  tells  us  that  the  one  in  which  he  himself  stayed  was 
ninety  feet  in  diameter. 

1  Henry  :  vol  I,  p.338.  “Sixty  feet  across,”  Maximilian :  p.386;  “One  hundred  and 
fifty  feet,”  Catlin :  vol.  I,  p.  88. 

-  Catlin  gives  this  as  eight  to  ten  feet  high,  Maximilian  as  four  or  live. 

3  Catlin :  vol.  I,  p.  88.  1  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  81. 

5  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  338. 


THE  MANDANS. 


107 


The  first  step  in  the  building  of  houses  was  the  excavation 
of  the  ground  where  the  floor  was  to  be,  to  a  depth  of  about  one 
and  a  half  to  two  feet,  the  earth  being  thrown  out  in  a  bank  all 
around  the  rim  of  the  excavation.  Around  this  circle,  against 
the  edges  were  placed  eleven  to  fifteen  great  posts,  four  to  six 
feet  high.  Logs  were  laid  across  from  one  to  another  of  these, 
and  on  the  outside  were  slabs  slanting  in  and  resting  against 
these  cross  logs.  This  arrangement  is  shown  in  Morgan’s  dia¬ 
gram  reproduced  in  Figure  1.  Also  on  these  cross-beams  rested 
the  rafters.  These  were  long  poles1  six  to  ten  inches  thick,  the 
small  end  pointing  in,  placed  very  close  together.  Four  or 
five2  great  posts,  five  feet  in  circumference,  fifteen  feet  high,  and 
fifteen  feet  apart  formed  an  inner  circle.  The  rafters  rested  on 


large  squared  beams  which  were  laid  horizontally  on  this  inner 
circle  of  large  posts.  Catlin  says  that  this  inner  circle  of  large 
posts  supported  the  rafters  at  about  their  center.  Henry  says 
that  these  posts  supported  the  end  of  the  rafters,  and  the  re¬ 
maining  space  was  filled  by  placing  timbers  criss-cross  over 
the  cross-beams  leaving  a  smoke  hole  in  the  center.  On  top  of 
the  rafters  was  placed  a  matting  of  willows,  six  inches  thick, 
fastened  together  compactly  and  secured  to  the  rafters.  Over 
the  surface  then  one  to  three  feet  of  earth  was  placed,  and  the 
sides  were  banked  with  earth  three  or  four  feet  high,  and  four 
feet  or  more  thick.  Catlin  says  that  the  whole  surface  was  then 
covered  with  clay,  hard  and  tough,  which  was  impervious  to 
water. 

1  Henry  gives  their  length  as  twelve  to  fifteen  feet. 

2  According  to  Catlin,  Maximilian  and  Henry  both  give  four. 


108 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  doorway  was  five  feet  broad  and  six  feet  high,  with  a 
covered  way  of  the  same  height,  but  seven  feet  broad  and  about 
ten  feet  long.  The  door  itself  was  a  raw  buffalo  hide  dried  on  a 
frame  which  was  hung  from  above  on  a  cord,  at  night  this  was 
barricaded,  and  when  the  family  was  away  the  porch  was  closed 
with  branches  and  sticks.  This  porch  was  covered  with  earth 
like  the  house  itself  and  led  downward  to  the  lower  level  of  the 
floor.  It  is  not  shown  in  any  of  Gatlin’s  drawings  and  he  does 
not  mention  one  except  in  the  medicine  lodge,  there  he  says  it 
was  eight  to  ten  feet  long,  w^as  hidden  with  a  double  screen,  and 
guarded  by  armed  sentinels. 

Verendrye  speaks  of  the  division  of  the  house  into  compart¬ 


ments  and  we  find  that  the  same 


Fl(i.  2.  HANDAN  HOUSE. 
(After  Maximilian.) 


a,  Fireplace ;  bbbb ,  Central  posts  sup¬ 
porting  roof;  c  c  c  c.  Seats;  d  d,  Screen  or 
wind  break;  n.  et  Partition  behind  which 
horses  were  kept;/,  Door  of  skin;  g.  En¬ 
trance;  h  h,  Covered  porch;  i,  Bed;  k  k  k  k. 
House  walls. 

hole  five  feet  in  diameter  and  : 
was  curbed  with  stones  placed 
Around  the  walls  was  a  series 


lung  existed  when  Henry  was 
there.  Lewis  and  Clarke,  and 
Gass  also  mention  that  one 
part  of  the  interior  was  cut 
off  and  used  as  a  stable  for 
the  horses.  Gatlin,  however, 
mentions  no  such  cutting  up 
of  the  interior,  nor  do  his 
pictures  show  anything  of  the 
sort,  but  Maximilian,  who 
visited  them  in  the  winter, 
gives  a  diagram  of  the  winter 
house  showing  several  com¬ 
partments;  this  diagram  and 
its  key  is  reproduced  in 
Figure  2.  The  main  interior 
arrangements  of  the  house 
in  spite  of  the  discrepancy 
on  these  latter  points  are 
agreed  on  by  all.  In  the 
center  under  the  smoke  hole 
was  the  fireplace,  a  round 
i  foot  or  more  deep.  This 
upright  about  the  edge.1 
of  beds  and  about  the  fire 


1  Maximilian,  p.  387. 


THE  MANDANS. 


109 


over  which  a  pot  hung,  were  low  seats  of  flexible  willow 
boughs. 

Henry ’s  description1  of  the  interior  is  probably  the  best, 
and  is  substantially  as  follows:  on  entering  you  first  saw  a 
kind  of  triangular  apartment  on  the  left  fronting  the  fire,  and 
leaving  an  open  space  on  the  right;  this  was  to  hold  firewood. 
The  partition  was  of  squared  planks  twelve  feet  high,  well  calked 
to  keep  off  the  cold  from  the  door.  Between  this  and  the  fire 
was  a  space  where  the  master  sat  on  a  mat  of  small  willows 
supported  as  a  sort  of  sofa  and  covered  with  a  buffalo  robe. 
On  this  the  man  sat  all  day  and  received  his  friends.  To  the 
left  of  the  host  began  a  range  of  beds.  The  master  occupied 
the  first  bed  with  his  favorite  wife,  then  a  wife  occupied  each 
of  the  next  few  beds,  then 
came  the  young  people. 

These  beds  were  all  built 
alike2  and  adjoined  each 
other  lengthwise.  At  the 
bottom  of  the  hut  facing  the 
master  stood  his  medicine 
stage  containing  everything 
he  valued,  and  most  import¬ 
ant  among  them  was  a  pair 
of  bulls’  heads  daubed  with 
earth.  Here  also  hung  his 
arms,  ammunition, scalps  and 
the  like.  Next  to  the  stage 
was  the  mortar,  fixed  in  the 
ground,  and  a  pestle.  The 
rest  of  the  hut  from  there 
to  the  door  was  separated 
off  for  the  horses  at  night. 

To  this  description  might  be  added  a  few  details  from  Cat- 
lin.  He  says  that  the  cabins  usually  held  a  family  and  all  its 
connections,  from  twenty  to  forty  people.  The  beds  were 
raised  about  two  feet  from  the  floor,  were  usually  ten  or  twelve 
in  number,  four  or  five  feet  apart,  and  went  all  the  way  around. 

1  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  pp.  339-40.  2  See  for  description,  p.  113. 


Fig.  3.  MANDAS  HOUSE. 
(After  Morgan.) 


110 


THE  MANDANS. 


Between  every  pair  was  a  large  post.  An  elevation  showing 
some  of  the  details  is  reproduced  from  Morgan  in  Figure  1,  and 
a  ground  plan,  in  Figure  3. 

The  sedentary  character  of  the  Mandans  and  the  fact  that 
they  practiced  agriculture  led  to  the  development  among  them 
of  several  cultural  features  not  found  among  the  purely  hunting 
tribes.  In  common  with  most  sedentary  tribes  they  made  use 
of  caches  or  storage  pits.  Henry1  gives  a  description  of 
them  saying  that,  in  the  fall  after  harvest,  the  corn  was  dried, 
shelled  and  put  in  deep  pits.  These  were  about  eight  feet  deep, 
with  a  mouth  just  wide  enough  for  a  person  to  get  in,  but  the  in¬ 
side  was  hollowed  out  larger  and  the  sides  and  bottom  were  lined 
with  straw.  The  cache  contained  twenty  to  thirty  bushels  of 
beans  or  corn  where  it  kept  for  several  years.  The  caches  were 
scattered  everywhere  about  the  village.  Catlin  mentions 
caches,  saying  that  they  placed  corn  in  pits  six  or  seven  feet 
deep,  jug  shaped,  and  tightly  closed  at  the  top. 

Dress  : — The  dress  of  the  Mandans  in  general  was  much  like 
that  of  their  neighbors,  at  the  later  period  of  their  history  at 
least.  There  were  however  some  minor  differences.  Veren- 
drye  says  that  at  his  visit  the  men  went  naked,  except  for  a  care¬ 
lessly  worn  buffalo  robe — not  even  wearing  a  breech  cloth.  The 
women  wore  very  little  as  a  rule,  their  only  article  of  attire 
being  an  apron  about  the  waist,  a  hand’s  breadth  wide  and  a 
foot  long.  But  he  adds  later  that  some  of  them  wore  a  gown 
of  very  soft  deerskin.  It  is  probable  that  other  articles  of 
dress  were  borrowed  from  their  neighbors  as  time  went  on. 

The  men  and  women  both  began  the  day  with  a  bath,  after 
which  the  body  was  carefully  oiled  with  castoreum.  For  any 
ceremonial  or  feast  the  body  was  also  painted  in  colors,  these 
being  mixed  with  grease.  After  the  bath  the  face  and  hair  were 
nearly  always  whitened.  The  men  in  Maximilian’s  time  usu¬ 
ally  wore  a  breech  cloth,  of  black  and  white  cloth,  and  mocca¬ 
sins  with  little  or  no  ornamentation.  The  upper  part  of  the 
body  was  usually  naked  as  they  seldom  wore  the  leather  shirt 
used  in  many  other  tribes.  Even  in  the  winter,  Maximilian 
says  they  wore  only  the  buffalo  robe  over  the  upper  half  of  the 

1  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  360. 


THE  MANDANS. 


Ill 


body.  The  small  boys  went  naked  but  the  girls  wore  a  leather 
dress  similar  to  those  of  the  older  women.  The  woman’s 
dress  was  the  buck-skin  tunic  which  went  just  below  the  knee, 
a  girdle  held  it  at  the  waist,  the  sleeves  were  open  and  the  base 
of  the  skirt  was  often  fringed.  Bead  necklaces  and  earrings 
were  worn,  and  leggings  which  did  not  reach  to  the  knee.  The 
men  also  wore  leggings  which  were  the  counterpart  of  those 
found  among  the  other  plains  tribes. 

Although  the  Mandans  ordinarily  dressed  very  plainly,  yet 
for  the  feasts  and  ceremonies  they  arrayed  themselves  as  gor¬ 
geously  as  did  any  of  their  neighbors,  and  in  practically  the 
same  way.  Then  they  wore  richly  embroidered  leather  shirts, 
moccasins  covered  with  quill  work,  necklaces  of  elk  teeth, bears’ 
claws,  odorous  roots  and  large  glass  beads,  with  fine  painted 
and  embroidered  robes,  tobacco  pouches,  quivers,  medicine 
bags,  and  all  the  paraphernalia  of  the  plains  ceremonial  dress. 
Scalps  were  used  as  among  the  Dakotas,  ceremonial  pipes  and 
bows  were  carried.  The  head-dresses  of  war  eagle,  hawk,  crow, 
and  raven  feathers  were  worn  by  members  of  different  societies 
and  occasionally  the  head-dress  of  two  small  polished  pieces  of 
buffalo  horn  was  worn.  This  last  was  found  frequently  among 
the  Dakotas.  Antelope  and  deer  hoofs  were  used  often  as  a 
fringe  of  bangles  along  the  shirt  hem  or  the  sides  of  the  leggings. 

The  Mandans  had  a  peculiar  method  of  dressing  the  hair, 
unlike  other  Siouan  tribes  but  very  much  like  the  Arikara. 
The  hair  of  the  men  was  allowed  to  hang  down  to  the 
thighs,  or  even  to  the  knees,  it  was  separated  into  a  number  of 
strands,  each  of  which  was  stuck  along  its  whole  length,  two  or 
three  inches  apart,  with  lumps  of  mixed  glue  and  colored  clay, 
making  nearly  solid  plaits  one  and  a  half  inches  thick.  Often¬ 
times  these  plaits  were  pieced  out  with  beaver  skin  strips  or 
hair  from  scalps.  One  lock  of  hair  hung  down  forward  over  the 
nose,  and  this  was  unornamented  except  for  a  red  ribbon  tied  about 
it.  There  were  two  copper  strips  covered  with  blue  and  white 
glass  beads  woven  with  the  hair  on  the  sides.  These  hung  by 
one  end  and  were  also  decorated  with  dentalia.  On  the  back 
of  the  head  was  an  ornament,  flat,  three  or  four  inches  thick,  of 
wood  or  twisted  metal  wire.  It  was  fastened  to  the  hair  and 


112 


THE  MANDANS. 


hung  down  to  the  shoulders.  It  was  covered  with  quill  work 
in  different  colors.  On  its  top  was  placed  horizontally  an  eagle 
feather  the  base  of  which  was  covered  with  red  cloth.  The 
usual  Siouan  head-dresses  were  also  worn.  In  every  day  life, 
however,  Maximilian  says  the  hair  was  knotted  up  in  a 
tuft.  The  Mandan  men  tattooed,  but  never  on  more  than  one 
half  of  the  body.  Usually  the  right  breast  and  upper  arm  was 
tattooed  with  black  parallel  lines,  accompanied  by  a  few  other 
figures.  Occasionally  the  fore-arm  and  some  of  the  fingers  were 
tattooed.  Occasionally  also  the  women  tattooed,  but  to  only  a 
small  extent.  Ermine  was  used  in  nearly  all  of  their  finest 
dresses,  and  tails  of  other  animals  as  well  as  different  sorts  of 
bird  feathers  had  especial  signification  in  ceremonial  or  war 
costumes.  Altogether,  as  Catlin  says,  the  dress  of  the  Black- 
feet,  Sioux,  and  Mandans  was  practically  alike.  The  great 
noticeable  difference  seems  to  be  that  the  Mandans  had 
much  less  regard  for  clothing  than  did  most  of  their  neigh¬ 
bors,  they  had  a  tendency  toward  simple  apparel,  and  the 
buffalo  robe  was  their  original  and  only  absolutely  necessary 
garment. 

Weapons: —  The  arms  of  the  Mandans  as  well  as  their  other 
culture  features  were  much  like  those  of  their  neighbors.  They 
used  the  customary  things  —  bows  and  arrows,  lances,  shields, 
knives,  and  tomahawks,  and  had  in  addition  a  peculiar  weapon 
of  their  own  called  a  bow-lance.  The  knives  and  arrow  points 
were  at  first  of  stone  as  were  the  axes  and  tomahawks,  but 
stone  implements  soon  fell  into  disuse  when  steel  ones  were 
obtained.  The  Mandan  bows  were  usually  of  elm  or  ash  wood, 
and  rather  short,  with  cords  of  twisted  sinews.  Occasionally, 
however,  a  bow  of  bone  or  horn  was  seen.  Catlin  describes 
such  a  one.  It  was  short  and  had  a  sinew  backing,  while  the 
cord  was  made  of  three  twisted  sinews.  With  the  bow  was 
usually  a  quiver  of  mountain  lion,  wild-cat,  or  wolf  skin,  the 
whole  hide  being  used.  The  arrows  of  the  Mandans  were  much 
better  made  than  those  of  their  neighbors.  They  were  feathered 
with  hawk  and  eagle  feathers  which  were  attached  in  a  short 
spiral,  a  red  line  wound  round  the  arrow  in  a  spiral  from  barb 
to  base.  There  were  hunting  points  and  war  points:  the  for- 


THE  MANDANS. 


113 


mer  unbarbed  and  securely  fastened  to  the  shaft,  the  latter 
barbed  and  loosely  attached. 

The  lances  were  two-edged  points  fastened  to  a  shaft  of  ash 
wood,  some  six  or  eight  feet  long,  ornamented  with  tufts  of  eagle 
plumes.  The  knives  were  at  first  of  stone,  but  were  soon  replaced 
by  the  European  steel  ones.  The  tomahawks  were  of  several 
sorts  and  are  all  duplicated  among  those  of  the  other  Sioux 
tribes.  The  shield  was  an  important  part  of  a  man ’s  equipment, 
it  was  of  buffalo  hide  whitened  with  white  clay  and  with  a  large 
painting  of  the  owner’s  medicine  on  the  front.  The  bow-lance 
was  a  purely  ceremonial  weapon  and  was  passed  down  from 
father  to  son  to  be  used  in  the  dances.  Maximilian  describes 
it  as  a  long  bow  with  a  spear  point  on  one  end,  the  whole  deco¬ 
rated  elaborately  with  eagle  plumes  and  other  ornaments. 

Manufactures: —  The  beds  of  the  Mandans  were  built  up 
from  four  posts  sunk  in  the  earth  to  form  a  rectangle  of  suitable 
size,  with  poles  lashed  across  from  one  to  the  other,  about  one 
foot  above  the  ground.  Over  the  cross  poles  a  green  buffalo 
hide  was  stretched  and  allowed  to  dry,  thus  forming  a  springy 
foundation ;  around  the  sides  and  across  the  top  hides  were  also 
stretched,  giving  the  whole  bed  the  appearance  of  a  large  box. 
A  small  opening  was  left  in  one  of  the  sides  through  which  to 
enter,  and  the  whole  interior  was  piled  with  buffalo  robes. 
These  beds  held  several  persons. 

The  Mandan  boats,  bull-boats  they  were  called,  also  merit 
a  description.  They  were  circular,  made  over  a  frame  of  bent 
willows,  which  consisted  of  two  hoops  held  in  position  by  cross 
pieces;  over  the  whole  a  raw  buffalo  hide  was  stretched,  hair  in, 
and  sewed  to  the  upper  rim.  They  were  about  six  feet  in  diame¬ 
ter  and  could  carry  very  heavy  loads.  For  a  paddle  a  pole 
some  five  feet  long  was  used.  It  was  split  up  the  end  where  a 
flat  board  about  two  and  a  half  feet  long  was  inserted  and  bound 
on.  The  boat  was  paddled  from  a  standing  position,  and  made 
half  a  revolution  at  every  stroke.  This  same  sort  of  boat  was 
used  by  the  Arikara  and  Hidatsa. 

For  the  rest  their  material  culture  did  not  differ  greatly 
from  that  of  the  surrounding  nomadic  tribes,  only  a  brief  enum¬ 
eration  therefore  of  the  manufactures  and  utensils  is  necessary. 


114 


THE  MANDANS. 


Verendrye  mentions  their  skill  in  making  such  things  as 
painted  ox-robes,  deer  skin,  dressed  buckskin,  and  ornamented 
fur  and  feathers,  painted  feathers,  peltry,  wrought  garters, 
circlets  for  the  head,  and  girdles.  They  certainly  understood 
the  art  of  dressing  skins,  though  perhaps  other  nations  equalled 
them.  All  their  visitors  speak  of  the  ornamented  robes  for  the 
decoration  of  which  porcupine  quills  dyed  various  colors,  or  the 
pigments  themselves,  as  paints,  were  used  at  first,  though  beads 
came  gradually  to  take  their  places.  The  ornamentation  con¬ 
sisted  usually  of  representations  of  animals,  and  pictographic 
records.  When  leather  got  wet,  it  was  beaten  and  rubbed  with 
white  clay  which  they  always  carried  with  them.  This  kept 
the  robes  soft.  Then  there  were  medicine  bags,  tobacco 
pouches,  sheathes  for  knives  anti  bows,  all  of  skin,  painted  or 
embroidered  with  quills,  such  as  are  seen  over  the  whole  plains 
area.  They  had  leather  bridles  for  their  horses,  sometimes 
embroidered,  and  used  a  saddle,  similar  to  that  of  the  Dakotas. 
The  horses  were  caught  by  means  of  long  raw  hide  lariats  which 
the  Indians  made  themselves. 

Whistles  were  also  necessary  articles  to  those  belonging  to 
the  societies.  Maximilian1  describes  them  as  "long  wooden 
whistles  at  whose  lower  end  an  eagle  feather  on  a  string  dangles.” 
He  says  they  also  had  large  flute  whistles,  twenty  inches  long, 
with  holes  to  vary  the  notes  by  application  of  the  fingers.  Be¬ 
sides  these  were  the  war  whistles,  usually  made  from  the  wing 
bone  of  some  large  bird.  Other  articles  of  bone,  necessitated 
by  the  great  use  of  skins,  were  the  bone  scrapers,  needles  and 
awls  with  which  each  house  was  profusely  supplied. 

Almost  the  only  agricultural  implements  which  they  used 
were  hoes.  These  were  the  shoulder  blades  of  buffalo  or  occa¬ 
sionally  of  elk,  which  were  cut  down  and  to  which  a  crooked 
stick  was  fastened  as  a  handle.2 

Among  their  cooking  utensils,  which  were  used  in  every  hut, 
were  spoons  and  ladles  of  bighorn  and  buffalo  horns.  Veren¬ 
drye  says  some  of  these  ladles  held  as  much  as  three  pints. 

So  far  as  the  accounts  go  the  Mandans  did  not  make  any 
textile  fabric,  though  the  Arikara  are  known  to  have  made 


Op.  cit.,'p.  416. 


2  Henry:  vol.  I,  p.  343. 


THE  MANDANS. 


115 


garters  and  belts  of  buffalo  hair.  But  they  did  make  string 
and  willow  matting.  There  is  an  account  of  a  mat  used  on  the 
seat  before  the  fire.  Henry1  says  that  the  mat  was  of  small 
willows  of  equal  size,  fastened  together  by  thread  of  native  make 
passed  through  each  stick  about  one  foot  apart.  The  mats 
were  ten  feet  long,  four  feet  broad,  and  the  two  ends  for  two 
and  a  half  feet  were  raised  slanting  from  the  ground  and  sup¬ 
ported  by  a  kind  of  sofa.  Verendrye  says  they  made  wicker 
work  very  neatly,  flat,  and  in  baskets. 

The  Mandans  used  snow-shoes  which  were  only  about  two 
and  a  half  feet  long.2  For  their  dyes  and  paints  they  made  use 
of  the  following:  red  obtained  from  buffalo-berries,  black  from 
sunflowers,  and  yellow  from  a  kind  of  moss  which  came  from 
the  Rocky  Mountains.  Blue,  red,  black,  yellow  and  white 
clays  were  also  used. 

An  indispensable  article  of  the  full  dress  was  the  fan.  These 
were  made  from  the  large  plumes  of  the  eagle,  hawk,  crow,  and 
a  number  of  other  birds,  depending  on  the  rank  of  the  owner. 

The  Mandan  pipes  differed  a  trifle  from  those  of  their  neigh¬ 
bors,  being  less  ornate.3  They  were  either  of  stone,  black  clay, 
or  yellow  clay  painted  black.  The  stone  pipes  were  obtained 
mostly  from  the  Dakotas.  Pipes  with  wooden  bowls,  lined  with 
stone,  were  also  used.  The  stem  was  long  and  round  or  flat. 
Catlin  describes  one  pipe  as  of  red  steatite  (catlinite)  with  a 
stem  three  feet  long,  half  its  length  wound  with  braids  of  por¬ 
cupine  quills.  They  also  had  the  calumet  pipe  which  will  be 
considered  in  connection  with  the  ceremonies. 

The  Mandans  and  their  neighbors  the  Arikara  and  Hidatsa 
made  glass  beads,  an  art  which  they  claimed  was  taught  to 
them  by  the  Snake  Indians.  They  did  not  make  the  glass  but 
used  glass  obtained  through  the  whites.  Lewis  and  Clarke4 
give  a  short  account  of  the  manufacture  of  beads  which  is  ex¬ 
ceedingly  interesting.  It  may  be  thus  summarized.  The 
secret  is  known  only  to  a  few.  Glass  of  several  colors  is  poun¬ 
ded  fine,  each  color  separate;  this  is  washed  in  several  waters 
until  the  glass  stops  staining  the  water.  They  then  take  an 


1  Op.  cit. ,  vol.  I,  p.  340. 
3  Ibid.,  p.  391. 


2  Maximilian :  p.  390. 
4  March  10,  1805. 


116 


THE  MANDANS. 


earthen  pot  of  some  three  gallons,  put  a  platter  in  the  mouth 
of  the  pot  which  has  a  nitch  on  its  edge  through  which  to 
watch  the  beads.  Then  some  well  seasoned  clay,  mixed  with 
sand  and  tempered  with  water  till  of  the  consistency  of  dough,  is 
taken,  and  from  it  are  made  a  number  of  little  sticks  of  the  size 
of  the  hole  desired  in  the  bead.  These  are  heated  to  a  red  heat 
and  cooled  again.  The  pot  is  also  heated  to  clean  it.  Then 
small  balls  of  the  clay  are  made  to  serve  as  pedestals  for  the 
beads.  The  powdered  glass,  enough  for  one  bead,  is  dipped  into 
the  palm  of  the  hand  with  a  little  wooden  paddle,  where  it  is 
paddled  into  an  oblong  form,  the  clay  stick  is  then  laid  across  it 
and  the  glass  is  wound  around  the  clay.  The  whole  is  then 
rolled  in  the  hand  till  regular.  To  put  in  other  colors  the  other 
end  of  the  paddle  stick,  which  is  sharp,  is  used  to  make  a  hole 
which  is  then  filled  with  another  colored  glass.  A  hole  is  then 
made  in  the  center  of  each  pedestal  and  a  bead  stuck  in  it. 
Then  the  platter  is  put  in  the  coals  and  the  pot  is  inverted  over 
it;  dry  wood  is  placed  about  the  whole  and  burnt;  the 
beads  are  watched  through  the  hole  in  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  as 
overheating  is  harmful.  When  the  beads  are  whitish  red  and 
grow  pointed,  they  are  taken  off.  The  clay  center  is  picked  out 
with  an  awl. 

Wooden  bowls  were  used  to  some  extent  by  the  Mandans.1 
They  also  made  very  excellent  pottery  which  was  mentioned  by 
nearly  all  their  visitors.  Verendrve  says  they  had  earthen 
pots  which  they  used  for  cooking  their  food.  Catlin  speaks  of 
earthenware  dishes  made  in  great  quantities  by  the  women 
and  modelled  into  a  thousand  forms.  He  says  they  were  of  a 
tough,  black  clay,  very  hard,  and  were  baked  in  prepared  kilns. 
Henry2  says  they  used  large  earthen  pots  of  clay  which  was 
plentiful  near  the  village.  The  pots  held  from  one  quart  to  five 
gallons.  Nothing  greasy  was  cooked  in  them  as  they  claimed  it 
cracked, them.  The  bottoms  of  t  he  pots  were  convex  and  they  were 
set  in  the  fire  in  a  hole  in  the  ashes.  Coils  of  bois  blanc  fibres 
with  a  hole  in  the  center,  and  of  different  sizes,  were  used  to  stand 
the  pots  on  when  off  the  fire.  Some  pots  had  two  ears  or 
handles. 


1  Catlin  :  vol.  I,  p.  114. 


2  Op.  clt.,  vol.  I,  p.  328. 


THE  MANDANS. 


117 


Maximilian1  also  gives  a  description  of  the  pottery; — “They 
make  pots  of  different  shapes  and  sizes.  The  clay  is  slate- 
colored  and  turns  a  yellowish  red  in  the  fire.  It  is  mixed  with 
powdered  granite  which  has  been  burnt.  A  large  round  stone 
is  stuck  into  the  clay  which  is  prevented  from  spreading  side¬ 
ways.  It  is  polished  with  a  piece  of  poplar  bark.  When 
shaped,  it  is  filled  with  dry  chips,  and  also  surrounded  by  them 
on  the  outside,  then  burned.  They  use  no  enamel  on  the  pots.  ’’ 
This  pottery  has  not  been  made  for  a  number  of  years,  and 
there  are  only  a  few  whole  samples  of  the  cruder  sort  in  collec¬ 
tions. 

Agriculture:  —  The  Mandans  were,  above  all,  an  agricul¬ 
tural  people,  far  more  so  than  any  of  their  neighbors.  They 
have  a  tradition  of  having  taught  the  Hidatsa  how  to  cultivate 
the  soil,  and  even  the  Arikara,  who  are  said  by  some  to  have 
taught  the  Mandans,  were  somewhat  inferior  to  the  latter  in 
the  pursuit  of  agriculture.  The  Mandans  were  dependent  on 
the  soil  for  nearly  all  of  their  food,  according  to  Verendrye,  in 
1738.  By  the  time  Lewis  and  Clarke  came,  however,  they  were 
about  on  the  dividing  line  between  being  a  hunting  and  an  agri¬ 
cultural  nation.  They  were  not  the  hunters  that  their  neighbors 
the  Hidatsa  were,  because  they  were  too  weak  in  numbers  to 
venture  on  long  hunting  trips.  The  agricultural  ceremonies 
and  dances  shared  honor  with  those  of  hunting,  and  the  Old 
Woman  Who  Never  Dies,  or  the  Corn  Mother,  was  an  impor¬ 
tant  personage  in  the  ceremonial  life  of  the  people. 

The  land  about  the  Mandan  villages,  smooth  river  bottoms 
and  very  fertile,  was  always  extremely  easy  to  work,  and  re¬ 
quired  but  the  crudest  implements.  Consequently  the  culti¬ 
vation  was  fairly  extensive.  Maximilian  says  that  each  family 
cultivated  three  fields  of  four  or  five  acres  each,  which  were 
never  fenced.  The  farms  were  shifted  to  a  new  place  when  the 
old  area  began  to  yield  smaller  crops.  There  seems  to  have 
been  no  attempt  at  fertilization,  and  it  was  hardly  necessary  in 
view  of  the  great  abundance  of  good  land.  Henry2  gives  an  ani¬ 
mated  picture  of  the  Mandan  farming  operations: 

“We  passed  extensive  fields  of  corn,  beans,  squashes  and 


1  Op.  cit.,  p.  396. 


Op.  cit.,  voi.  I,  pp.  343  et  seq. 


118 


THE  MANDANS. 


sunflowers.  Many  women  and  children  were  already  employed 
in  clearing  and  hoeing  their  plantations  ....  On  each  side  were 
pleasant  cultivated  spots  some  of  which  stretched  up  the  rising 
ground  on  our  left,  whilst  on  our  right  they  ran  nearly  to  the 
Missouri.  ’  ’ 

The  Mandans  used  to  raise  enormous  quantities  of  produce 
from  these  crudely  tilled  plots,  and  the  most  of  it  was  stored 
away  in  the  caches.  Each  of  these  caches  would  hold  from 
twenty  to  forty  bushels  of  corn  and  beans,  and  the  number  of 
them  was  very  large.  Maximilian  says  that  there  was  often  from 
five  hundred  to  eight  hundred  bushels  of  corn,  alone,  in  the  village. 
In  view  of  his  other  statements  this  seems  a  very  moderate 
estimate.  The  supply  was  large  enough  so  that  it  was  not  only 
eaten  by  the  people,  but  in  the  winter  was  sometimes  fed  to 
the  horses.1  Lewis  and  Clarke  speak  several  times  of  buying 
corn  of  the  Indians  in  lots  of  thirty  bushels  or  more. 

The  methods  of  cultivation  among  the  Mandans,  though 
crude,  were  still  above  the  most  primitive  types  of  tilling.  The 
work  in  the  fields  was  begun  in  May.  Little  trenches  were 
made  in  rows,  the  grain  was  put  in  these  and  covered.  During 
the  summer  the  soil  about  the  plants  was  dug  up  from  three  to 
four  times.  The  harvest  usually  came  in  October  and  for  that 
work  every  member  of  the  village  lent  a  hand,  this  being  one 
of  the  few  times  when  the  men  took  any  part  in  the  domestic 
work.  Between  the  rows  of  corn,  rows  of  sunflowers  were 
usually  planted.  The  only  noticeable  feature  in  this  descrip¬ 
tion  is  the  fact  that  the  garden  plots  were  cultivated  and  cared 
for  during  the  summer,  when  most  of  the  semi-agricultural 
tribes  lower  down  the  Missouri  were  absent  on  long  hunting 
excursions. 

The  latitude  of  the  Mandan  villages  required  very  hardy  and 
quick-ripening  vegetables;  and  we  find  that  the  Mandans  had 
perfected  a  number  of  plants  suited  to  the  cold  and  dry  climate 
of  the  region.  The  crops  were  often  poor  because  of  drought 
or  early  frost,  but  they  never  failed  entirely.2  The  main  pro¬ 
ducts  were  corn,  beans,  squashes,  sunflowers  and  tobacco. 
These  were  all  grown  when  Verendrye  visited  them,  and  were 


1  Op.  cit.,  p.  389. 


2  Ibid.,  p.  347. 


THE  MANDANS. 


119 


still  grown  at  the  time  of  Maximilian’s  visit.  Corn,  however, 
surpassed  all  the  rest  in  importance.  It  was  a  small  variety, 
five  or  six  feet  high, but  was  not  the  common, mottled  “Squaw 
corn’  ’  found  in  the  region  later.  Maximilian  enumerates  seven 
distinct  sorts,  as  follows:  —  white,  yellow,  red,  spotted,  black, 
sugar,  yellow  flint,  and  red  and  white  striped.  The  sweet  corn 
was  cut  in  the  milk,  then  dried  on  the  scaffolds  in  the  sun  and 
kept  in  the  caches.  The  other  corn  was  not  gathered  till  it  was 
ripe;  it  was  then  shelled  and  also  put  in  the  caches.  Corn  was 
eaten  as  succotash  with  beans,  boiled  as  hominy,  ground  up 
into  coarse  flour  and  made  into  cakes,  and  also  as  a  sort  of  gruel 
and  in  several  mixtures  with  wild  fruit. 

The  beans,  as  to  the  cultivation  of  which  there  is  little  infor¬ 
mation  were,  nevertheless,  of  considerable  importance.  Maxi¬ 
milian1  gives  a  number  of  varieties  of  these  also;  there  were 
white,  black,  red,  and  speckled  beans.  These  were  not  gathered 
until  ripe,  and  were  then  spread  out  on  the  flooring  of  the  scaf¬ 
folds  to  dry,  after  which  they,  too,  were  stored  in  the  caches. 
The  beans  were  used  in  about  the  same  way  as  the  corn,  both 
of  them  being  mixed  in  many  dishes.  There  were  five  varieties 
of  squash  or  pumpkin,  yellow,  black,  striped,  long,  and  thick 
skinned.  These  were  usually  cut  up  into  thin  slices,  hung  by 
cords  from  the  scaffold  rafters  and  dried  in  the  sun.  They,  too, 
were  then  stored  away  for  future  use,  to  be  boiled  with  beans 
and  corn  or  separately,  or  eaten  with  some  of  the  wild  plums 
or  choke-cherries. 

The  sunflowers,  Maximilian  says,  seemed  to  differ  little  from 
those  ordinarily  cultivated  in  civilization.  There  were  three 
kinds,  red  seed,  black  seed,  and  a  small  seeded  sort.  There 
is  no  account  of  the  method  of  preparation,  but  Maximilian 
tells  us  that  very  good  cakes  were  made  from  them.  The  Man- 
dan  tobacco,  which  was  used  also  by  the  Hidatsa  and  Ankara, 
while  belonging  to  the  Nicotiana,  was  a  small  species.  Veren- 
drye  says  that  the  tobacco  was  put  up  in  rolls,  that  they  cut  it 
green  and  used  it,  stalks  and  all ;  he  said  it  was  not  good.  Later 
authorities  do  not  agree  on  its  preparation,  however,  as  both 
Maximilian  and  Henry  sa}^  that  it  was  cut  ripe  and  ground  up 


i  Op.  cit.,  p.  392. 


120 


THE  MANDANS. 


fine.  It  was  usually  smoked  mixed  with  the  bark  of  the  so-called 
red-willow  or  Cornus.  Henry  says  that  the  blossoms  were  used, 
and  were  dried  on  a  piece  of  pottery  before  the  fire.  Lewis 
and  Clarke  and  Gass  both  mention  this  tobacco  and  agree  with 
Verendrye  that  it  was  not  good  to  those  who  were  accustomed 
to  European  tobacco.  The  Mandans  themselves  soon  discarded 
their  own  variety,  raising  only  a  little  each  year  to  use  in  cere¬ 
monials. 

Although  hardly  coming  under  agriculture,  still  as  a  related 
matter,  it  might  be  well  to  mention  the  wild  vegetables  and 
fruits  which  were  so  much  used  by  the  Indians  of  the  region. 
These  were  june-berries,  choke-cherries,  wild  plums,  the  feve- 
role,  and  especially  the  pomme  blanche  or  Indian  turnip.  The 
latter  were  something  like  artichokes,  white,  ovate,  one  to  three 
inches  long,  and  about  the  size  of  a  man’s  finger.  They  were 
collected  in  large  quantities  and  formed  a  very  common  food. 

Hunting  and  Fishing:  —  The  Mandans  derived  a  living 
from  agriculture  and  the  hunt  in  about  equal  proportions.  Their 
methods  of  hunting  differed  little  from  those  of  their  neighbors. 
Game  was  in  abundance  and  many  animals  besides  the  buffalo 
contributed  to  their  sustenance.  Among  these  were  antelope, 
elk,  deer,  bighorn,  and  an  occasional  bear,  besides  beaver, 
rabbits,  ducks  and  geese.  Other  animals  were  killed  for  their 
hides  alone,  as  wolves,  foxes,  ermine  and  panther.  Eagles  and 
other  birds  of  prey  were  hunted  for  their  plumes. 

Buffalo  were  hunted  all  the  year  round  whenever  they  were 
in  the  neighborhood  of  the  village,  for  the  Mandans  did  not  go 
away  on  long  hunting  trips  as  did  most  of  their  neighbors.  The 
buffalo  hunt  was  directed  by  the  Soldier  Band.  A  small  de¬ 
tached  body  of  buffalo  would  be  surrounded  by  the  horsemen 
and  then  every  animal  killed  in  order  to  prevent  the  alarm¬ 
ing  of  the  whole  herd.  Any  animal  which  did  not  contain  an 
arrow  by  which  the  slayer  could  be  identified,  belonged  to  who¬ 
ever  found  it.  The  beasts  were  cut  up,  and  each  man’s 
horse  was  laden  down  with  meat.  Certain  choice  parts  were 
eaten  immediately  by  the  hunter,  and  the  heart  and  tongue 
could  be  demanded  from  anyone  of  a  lower  grade  than  he  who 
asked  for  them.  The  childless  old  men  and  women  usually 


THE  MANDANS. 


121 


met  the  returning  hunters  at  a  short  distance  from  the  village, 
and  the  hunters  dropped  portions  of  the  meat  for  them. 

When  the  Missouri  broke  up  in  the  spring  large  numbers  of 
buffalo  were  drowned  and  floated  down  the  river.  The  Man- 
dans  usually  caught  large  quantities  of  these  as  they  floated  by, 
and  esteemed  them  as  better  than  the  fresh  meat.  Henry  says 
that  meat  was  nearly  always  hung  up  till  partially  decayed, 
after  which  it  was  better  liked.  The  intestines  of  the  buffalo 
were  considered  a  good  food  and  were  always  eaten.  The  Man- 
dans  made  pemmican,  as  did  all  of  the  plains  tribes,  grinding  up 
the  dried  meat  and  packing  it  in  parfleches,  after  which  buffalo 
fat  was  poured  in. 

Probably  the  antelope  were  next  in  importance  to  the 
buffalo.  These  were  caught  in  large  bands  by  means  of  what 
were  called  parks.  At  the  head  of  a  coulee  an  enclosure  of 
branches  was  made  with  a  narrow  opening  from  which  two  fences 
of  branches  led  away  in  the  shape  of  a  funnel,  extending  for 
a  mile  or  often  more.  The  Indians,  on  horseback,  by  surround¬ 
ing  a  band  of  antelopes  could  gradually  work  them  towards 
this  enclosure,  through  the  gate  of  which  they  were  at  last 
forced  to  go.  The  entrance  was  then  guarded  and  the  hunters 
knocked  the  animals  on  the  head  with  the  stone  war  clubs;  a 
hundred  or  more  at  a  time  were  often  killed  in  this  fashion. 

Wolves  and  foxes  were  trapped  in  pitfalls  which  were  dug 
to  a  depth  of  eight  or  ten  feet,  covered  with  branches  and  baited 
with  pieces  of  buffalo  meat.  Beaver  and  other  small  fur-bear¬ 
ing  animals  were  caught  in  traps.  Bears  were  killed  only  occa¬ 
sionally  as  the  Indians  did  not  like  to  attack  them.  Cat-fish  and 
sturgeon,  as  well  as  smaller  fish  and  turtles  were  caught  along 
the  river,  where  unios  and  snails  were  also  gathered. 

The  larger  birds  were  caught  in  a  rather  peculiar  fashion. 
The  hunters  usually  went  to  the  Bad  Lands  to  hunt  them. 
There  a  pit  was  dug  in  some  likely  place.  Bait  of  small  pieces 
of  meat  was  scattered  about,  after  which  the  hunter  concealed 
himself  in  the  pit,  dragging  over  the  top  a  covering  of  branches 
with  bait  upon  them.  Then  he  waited  patiently,  often  for  a 
day  or  more  till  a  bird  should  alight  on  the  branches;  as  soon 
as  this  happened  the  bird  was  grasped  and  pulled  down  into 


122 


THE  MANDANS. 


the  pit  where  it  was  dispatched  and  the  hunter  waited  for  an¬ 
other.  This  method  was  also  used  by  the  Hidatsa,  and  so  in 
fact  nearly  all  the  Mandan  hunting  methods  and  customs  were 
duplicated  among  their  neighbors.  The  only  important  excep¬ 
tion  was  the  Mandan  custom  of  giving  a  share  of  the  meat  to 
anyone  who  might  come  to  the  home  of  a  successful  hunter  and 
ask  for  it.  Henry  tells  us  that  the  Hidatsa  and  Amahami  did 
not  have  this  charitable  custom. 

War: —  Among  most  of  the  Indians,  war  was  the  chief  occu¬ 
pation  of  the  men,  and  the  Mandans  in  this  respect  differed 
little  from  the  other  tribes.  They  were  constantly  in  danger 
from  their  more  numerous  enemies,  the  Dakotas,  and  in  addition 
frequently  had  disputes  with  other  smaller  bands.  The  Man¬ 
dans  were  not  a  warlike  people,  and  fought  only  when  neces¬ 
sary;  but  when  the  time  came  they  were  among  the  bravest 
and  most  fearless  warriors  of  the  region.  Maximilian  says  that 
they  had  been  known  to  send  war  parties  as  far  as  the  Rocky 
Mountains  against  the  Blackfeet  and  as  far  east  as  the  Red 
River  against  the  Ojibwa.  Their  chief  enemies  were,  however, 
the  Dakota,  the  Cheyenne,  and  at  times  the  Arikara.  The  cus¬ 
tom  of  sending  out  war  parties  was  not  as  usual  here  as  among 
their  neighbors,  the  Hidatsa.  The  system  of  rank  in  the  village 
was  to  a  considerable  extent  based  upon  military  prowess; 
the  wearing  of  different  insignia  which  indicated  each  man’s 
deeds  was  a  common  device.  Those  who  had  made  a  coup 
wore  a  wolf’s  tail  at  the  heel  of  their  moccasin.  If  a  man  was 
the  first  of  a  party  to  touch  and  kill  an  enemy,  he  painted  a 
spiral  line  about  his  arm,  with  another  winding  in  the  opposite 
direction  with  three  cross  stripes.  For  the  second  enemy  he 
painted  his  left  legging  a  reddish  brown.  If  he  killed  an  enemy 
in  equal  fight  before  any  other  enemy  was  slain,  he  could  put  a 
wolf’s  tail  around  each  foot.  For  the  third  coup  two  lengthwise 
stripes  with  three  cross  stripes  were  painted  on  the  arm,  this 
was  the  most  honorable  coup  and  no  other  distinctive  marks 
were  in  use,  except  that  another  eagle  feather  might  be  worn 
in  the  hair  for  each  additional  coup.  If  a  man  made  his  coup 
after  others  were  made,  the  end  of  the  wolf’s  tail  was  cut  off. 
Six  little  wooden  sticks  worn  in  the  hair  showed  that  a  man 


THE  MANDANS. 


123 


had  been  shot  six  times;  some  wore  a  wooden  knife,  a  sign  they 
had  killed  an  enemy  with  a  knife.  Maximilian  describes  one 
man,  a  chief,  whose  face  was  painted  half  yellow  and  half 
red,  with  stripes  made  by  rubbing  the  color  off;  his  arms  had 
seventeen  lines  showing  the  number  of  his  deeds,  and  on  his 
breast,  in  yellow,  was  a  hand  showing  that  he  had  made 
prisoners. 

When  a  youth  first  wished  to  lead  a  war  party  he  at  once 
acquired  a  medicine.  Then  he  solicited  his  young  men  friends 
by  presents  and  assurances  of  the  efficacy  of  his  medicine  and 
after  feasts  and  dances  he  departed  with  as  many  followers  as 
he  could  get.  In  the  large  war  parties  there  were  four  real 
leaders  and  sometimes  three  others  called  bad  leaders.  Each 
real  leader  carried  a  medicine  pipe  in  a  case  on  his  back.  To 
become  a  chief  it  was  necessary  to  begin  as  a  war  party  leader, 
then  to  kill  a  man  while  in  a  party  where  the  candidate  was  not 
a  leader.  Again,  while  following  another  leader,  he  must  be  the 
first  to  discover  the  enemy  and  kill  one  of  them,  and  lastly  he 
must  have  owned  at  some  time  a  white  buffalo  hide.  Each 
warrior  carried  about  his  neck  the  whistle  of  his  band,  and  at 
the  moment  of  falling  upon  the  enemy  these  were  blown  and 
the  war-cry  was  sounded. 

The  Mandans  seldom  took  male  prisoners  but  even  when 
taken  they  were  never  tortured.  As  soon  as  a  prisoner  had 
entered  the  village  and  eaten  corn  he  was  considered  as  one  of 
the  nation;  the  women,  however,  could  go  out  and  meet  the 
returning  party  and  kill  the  prisoners  then.  Scalps  were  dried 
and  used  in  decoration.  When  a  successful  war  party 
returned  they  were  met  by  the  women  and  children  who  entered 
the  village  with  them  dancing  the  scalp  dance.  The  warriors 
painted  the  face,  and  often  the  whole  body,  black,  and  the 
scalp  dance  was  danced  in  the  medicine  lodge  four  nights, 
then  later  in  the  middle  of  the  village.  If  no  Mandan  was 
killed  in  the  campaign,  the  dance  was  kept  up  for  six 
months. 

In  all  these  war  customs  we  find  nothing  more  than  the 
general  plains  ideas  such  as  were  found  in  all  the  Sioux  tribes 
and  among  most  of  their  neighbors. 


124 


THE  MANDANS. 


Disease  and  the  Cure  of  Disease  : — The  Mandans  were 
as  a  rule  a  very  healthy  people  and  their  catalogue  of  diseases 
was  small,  being  mostly  those  which  of  necessity  accompany  a 
life  of  considerable  hardship.  Catarrhal  troubles,  snow  blindness, 
rheumatism  and  hemoptisis  were  most  common.  They  had 
no  fevers  and  no  consumption;  venereal  diseases  were  found, 
but  the  Mandans  always  claimed  that  these  were  got  from  the 
Crows.  Their  other  troubles  were  wounds,  snake  bites  and 
freezing.  Maximilian  said  that  he  also  found  cases  of  the  gout 
among  them. 

Colds  and  catarrhal  troubles  and  rheumatism  were  treated 
in  the  vapor  bath  which  is  found  in  one  form  or  another  among 
most  Indian  tribes.  The  patient  was  steamed  well  and  then 
immediately  plunged  into  icy  water  or  snow,  from  there  he 
went  into  the  house  where  he  was  kept  wrapped  up  for  some 
time.  The  snow  blindness  was  treated  by  gentle  sweating- 
Cataracts  and  inflammation  of  the  eyes  resulted  from  snow 
blindness  at  times,  and  the  inflammation  was  treated  by  rub¬ 
bing  with  some  herb  which  had  a  rough  surface.  With  this  the 
eyeball  was  rubbed  till  blood  flowed.  Bleeding  was  practiced, 
and  rattle-snake  rattles  were  considered  to  be  a  remedy  for 
almost  anything.  The  rattles  were  powdered  fine,  mixed  with 
water  or  saliva  and  either  swallowed  or  rubbed  on  the  parts 
affected.  The  Mandans  used  no  emetics  but  had  a  number  of 
vegetable  purgatives.  Lewis  and  Clarke  described  a  root  which 
was  chewed  and  placed  on  a  snake  bite,  they  called  it  Sacka- 
comah  but  it  has  not  been  identified  botanically.  Freezing  was 
treated  by  rubbing  with  snow.  Horses  were  sometimes  given 
a  piece  of  wasp’s  nest  as  a  diuretic. 

Wounds  healed  with  remarkable  rapidity  and  had  very 
little  care.  Severe  cuts  were  rubbed  with  fat  and  sometimes 
bound  up.  A  number  of  cases  were  known  where  persons  who 
had  been  scalped  recovered.  In  arrow  wounds  the  point 
was  always  forced  entirely  through  the  flesh  if  possible  because 
it  came  out  more  easily  so. 

Games: — The  Mandans  had  games  for  men,  women  and 
children,  and  in  most  of  these  betting  was  an  important  part  of 
the  sport.  Probably  the  best  known  of  these  games  was 


THE  MANDANS. 


125 


Skohpe,  Tchung-kee  or  Billiards  as  some  have  called  it.  Henry1 
gives  a  good  account  of  the  method  of  play: 

‘  ‘  Two  persons  are  each  provided  with  a  stick  six  feet  long 
on  which  are  cut  a  certain  number  of  notches  an  inch  long;  in 
the  intervals  of  which  are  fixed  the  same  number  of  small 
bunches  of  feathers  of  diverse  colors,  with  three  pieces  of  wood 
sixteen  inches  square  one  near  each  end  and  one  in  the 
middle;  these  are  perforated  in  the  center  and  through  them  is 

passed  the  rod  ....  Each  notch  has  a  particular  mark . 

The  ground  is  a  smooth  level  place  forty  paces  long  by  five 
broad.  The  players  stand  side  by  side  and  start  from  one  end 
....  and  trot  ....  half  way  through,  when  one  of  them  throws 
a  ball  ....  and  both  players  push  their  rods  forward  to  over¬ 
take,  and  keep  pace  with  the  ball.  They  then  examine  the 
bunch  at  which  the  ball  stops.  ’  ’ 

Catlin2  also  describes  it,  saying  that  Tchung-kee  was  played 
on  a  smooth  clay  pavement.  Two  champions  chose  sides. 
One  rolled  a  stone  ring,  the  other  slid  a  stick  alongside,  this 
stick  had  leather  projections  on  which  the  ring  should  catch. 
The  points  were  game,  one,  two,  and  four,  depending  on  which 
projection  the  ring  caught  upon.  The  last  winner  always  rolled 
the  ring.  If  either  failed  he  forfeited  the  amount  of  the  number 
nearest  to  which  his  stick  stopped  and  lost  his  throw,  another 
taking  his  place. 

There  seems  to  have  been  two  forms  of  the  game.  The 
Hidatsa  and  Arikara  played  it,  the  latter  considering  it  to  some 
extent  as  a  religious  ceremony.  Maximilian3  tells  us  that  the 
Pawnees  also  played  it,  but  differently.  Similar  games  were 
found  throughout  the  southeast. 

In  addition  to  Skohpe  the  men  had  horse  races,  foot  races, 
and,  according  to  Maximilian,  sham  battles.  Catlin  speaks  of 
the  games  of  moccasin  and  platter.  Verendrye  says  the  men 
played  a  game  of  ball  on  the  ramparts,  but  this  was  probably 
Skohpe.  The  horse  race  was  run  in  a  circle  about  the  village. 
Maximilian  tells  us  that  as  many  as  twenty  men  ran  in  the  foot 
races,  and  the  races  are  mentioned  by  other  writers.  The  men 
raced  usually  over  a  course  about  seven  miles  long.  They  had 

1  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  363.  2  Op.  cit.,  vol.  I,  p.  132.  s  Op.  cit.,  p.  417. 


126 


THE  MANDANS. 


regular  archery  contests  in  which  each  competitor  paid  an  en¬ 
trance  fee;  the  object  was  to  see  which  man  could  get  the  most 
arrows  into  the  air  at  once.1 

The  women  played  a  game  with  a  large  leather  ball,  orna¬ 
mented  and  well  made,  which  they  caused  to  fall  alternately 
on  the  foot  and  knee  by  bouncing.  There  was  also  a  children ’s 
game,  called  Asse,  played  with  the  tip  of  an  antler  to  the  base 
of  which  two  feathers  were  attached.  The  children  also  played  a 
game  with  a  hoop  covered  with  a  number  of  leather  bands,  and 
about  a  foot  in  diameter.  This  hoop  was  rolled  along  and  they 
hit  it  and  knocked  it  down  by  throwing  a  pointed  stick ;  the  one 
that  struck  nearest  the  center  won.  In  the  spring  after  the 
break-up,  the  children  used  to  run  along  the  bank  and  throw 
this  ring  into  the  water.2  Catlin  also  gives  an  account  of  sham 
battles  under  the  leadership  of  older  men  in  which  the  boys 
engaged. 

Miscellaneous:  —  As  to  the  other  features  of  their  culture 
perhaps  a  few  words  from  Maximilian3  will  give  some  idea. 

lie  says: — “  Many  of  them  take  a  real  pleasure  in  music  and 
painting  and  are  very  skillful  in  both.  .  .  .  Their  musical  instru¬ 
ments  are  simple.  The  songs  consist  of  cries  uttered  from  time 
to  time,  and  broken  by  louder  bursts  of  joy.  These  are  accom¬ 
panied  by  heavy  drum  blows  and  the  sound  of  rattles.  .  .  .  They 
discussed  with  pleasure  subjects  of  the  highest  order,  the  uni¬ 
verse  and  its  cause  together  with  kindred  topics,  saying  that 
their  own  explanation  was  far  from  satisfactory.  .  .  .  They  are 
very  fine  orators,  and  use  very  impressive  figurative  language. 
They  like  to  talk.  .  .  .  By  nature  they  are  proud  and  full  of 
ambition.  .  .  .  They  often  are  highly  sensitive,  and  some  have 
been  known  to  die  of  love  or  from  wounded  personal  pride 
due  to  an  insult  to  their  honor.” 

Maximilian  also  says  that  they  were  good  story  tellers  and 
took  great  pleasure  in  relating  their  myths  and  legends.  They 
had  a  sort  of  literature  in  the  shape  of  rituals  for  their  elaborate 
dances,  and  these  were  handed  down  through  the  medicine  men. 
They  paid  considerable  attention  to  the  stars  in  their  ceremonies 
but  were  not  students  of  the  heavens,  and  their  calendar  was  a 


Oj).  clt.,  v ol.  I,  p.  141. 


2  Maximilian :  p.  417. 


3  Ibid.,  pp.  404  et  eecp 


THE  MANDANS. 


127 


purely  lunar  one.  Some  record  was  kept  of  the  years,  a  cer¬ 
tain  symbol  of  some  distinctive  event  standing  for  each  year 
on  the  record  robe,  the  same  system  used  by  the  Dakotas.  The 
year  was  divided  as  follows: 


January 

Moon 

of 

seven  cold  days. 

February 

U 

it 

the  rut  of  wolves. 

March 

U 

i  i 

sore  eyes. 

April 

u 

a 

game;  or  of  the  river  break-up, 

May 

u 

ll 

sowing;  or  of  flowers. 

June 

LI 

u 

ripe  june-berries. 

July 

ll 

n 

ripe  choke-cherries. 

August 

a 

i  i 

ripe  wild  plums. 

September 

n 

n 

ripe  corn. 

October 

a 

ll 

the  fall  of  leaves. 

November 

n 

IL 

the  freezing  rivers. 

December 

it 

ll 

the  little  cold. 

The  Mandans  were  a  very  liberal  and  hospitable  people,  more 
so  than  any  of  their  neighbors  according  to  Henry.  Food  was 
practically  common  property  in  the  village.  No  man  could 
become  a  chief  without  much  giving  of  presents,  and  giving  was 
considered  a  great  honor,  the  gifts  which  a  man  had  made  being 
painted  on  his  robe  along  with  his  deeds  in  war.  If  one  ex¬ 
pressed  a  desire  for  anything  it  was  immediately  given  to  him 
but  a  present  of  equal  value  was  expected  in  return.  In  con¬ 
nection  with  this  might  be  mentioned  the  custom  of  taking 
back  a  sale;  by  a  return  of  the  purchase  price  a  man  might 
regain  anything  which  he  had  sold,  whenever  he  wished  to. 

The  hospitality  of  the  Mandans  is  mentioned  by  every  visitor. 
Verendrye  speaks  particularly  of  his  kind  reception  and  says, 
‘  ‘  Their  custom  being  to  feed  liberally  all  who  came  among 
them,  selling  only  what  was  to  be  taken  away.  ’  ’ 1  Even  their 
worst  enemy  when  once  in  their  village  had  nothing  to  fear  and 
was  treated  with  all  kindness.  Henry  remarked  that  the 
Mandans  were  thieves  but  never  touched  any  property  of  a 
stranger  who  was  a  guest  in  a  lodge.  They  were  bound  to  pro¬ 
tect  any  stranger,  even  an  enemy  who  might  seek  refuge  in  the 
village. 


Op.  cit.,  p.  15. 


128 


THE  MANDANS. 


Among  a  number  of  other  customs,  was  treaty  making  with 
other  tribes.  This  was  well  described  by  Henry  who  accom¬ 
panied  the  Mandans  and  Hidatsa  when  they  went  to  make  a 
treaty  with  the  Cheyennes.  Most  of  the  people  went  on 
these  treaty  visits ;  the  band  marched  in  a  procession  of  fixed 
order  and  a  number  of  ceremonial  objects  were  carried  exposed 
throughout  the  march.  The  party  was  met  with  great  cere¬ 
mony  by  the  new  allies  and  its  members  were  taken  into  their 
houses.  Several  days  of  ceremonial  feasting  occurred  and 
finally  the  head  chief  of  each  party  adopted  a  son  from  the  other 
tribe.  After  this  there  was  more  feasting  and  several  days  of 
trade  between  the  two  bands,  when  both  returned  home. 

The  adoption  of  sons  occurred  also  among  the  different 
families.  Maximilian  describes  the  adoption  of  a  “medicine 
son”  to  whom  a  sacred  pipe  was  given.  The  man  chose  his 
adopted  son  through  a  dream.  The  new  pipe  was  consecrated 
and  gifts  were  showered  upon  the  son’s  family  by  the  adopted 
father  and  his  relatives.  A  dance  and  feast  was  then  held. 
This  custom  was  prevalent  over  all  the  Missouri  region. 

There  were  a  number  of  men  who  dressed  and  acted  like 
women  and  were  treated  in  every  way  as  such.  These  men 
claimed  to  follow  this  life  by  an  order  from  the  spirits  given 
to  them  in  a  dream. 

Catlin  says  that  the  Mandans  did  not  have  slaves  and  there 
is  no  mention  of  them  elsewhere.  The  Arikara,  however,  had 
a  regular  slavery  system,  and  the  Crows  made  slaves  and  sold 
them  on  the  Missouri.  The  Mandans  were  very  good  at  the 
sign  language  so  Maximilian  tells  us.  They  were  expert  swim¬ 
mers,  and  collected  their  whole  supply  of  wood  by  swimming 
out  and  towing  in  the  drift  wood  at  the  time  of  the  spring  break¬ 
ups. 

In  point  of  general  culture  the  Mandans  were  superior 
to  any  of  their  immediate  neighbors,  surpassing  even  the  other 
sedentary  people,  the  Hidatsa  and  Arikara.  Catlin  says  that 
they  had  advanced  far  in  the  arts  of  manufacture  and  had 
more  comforts  and  luxuries  than  other  tribes.  When  Verendrye 
saw  them  he,  too,  was  struck  by  their  superior  skill.  He  said 
that  the  Mandans  dressed  leather  and  worked  in  feathers  better 


THE  MANDANS. 


129 


than  any  other  nation;  also  that  they  sold  grain,  tobacco,  peltry, 
and  painted  plumes  to  the  Assiniboine  for  arms,  kettles,  and 
other  things  of  European  manufacture.  As  is  seen  from  this 
account  of  Verendrye,  European  culture  touched  them  very 
early  by  means  of  trade  with  nations  farther  east,  and  they 
were  quick  to  take  up  the  better  articles  so  acquired.  For 
this  reason  it  is  difficult  to  get  any  description  of  the  use  of 
earlier  crude  bone  and  stone  implements,  most  of  which  had 
almost  gone  out  of  use  when  Lewis  and  Clarke  visited  the 
villages. 

Social  Organization:  —  As  regards  the  social  organization, 
the  Mandans  were  divided  into  two  sorts  of  bands.  By  the 
first  method,  like  the  Pawnee,  they  were  known  accord¬ 
ing  to  the  old  village  from  which  they  had  originally  come. 
Maximilian  names  at  one  time  eight  villages  in  describing  the 
old  habitations;  in  another  place  he  says  they  had  thirteen 
and  gives  the  names  for  six  more,  this  gives  fourteen  distinct 
village  names.  He  says  that  the  people  were  known  by  the 
names  of  the  villages  whence  they  originally  came,  and  Morgan 
mentions  eight  of  the  names  given,  as  the  gens  names.  This  is 
the  only  trace  of  a  gens  organization  found.  The  second  method 
of  grouping  into  bands  followed  the  lines  of  the  general  plains 
division  according  to  age.  The  First  Chief  who  led  them  from 
underground  was  the  originator  of  these  divisions.  This  chief 
gave  to  each  band  its  own  songs  and  whistles  and  directions  as 
to  conducting  its  dances.  Each  of  these  bands  was  distin¬ 
guished  by  a  number  of  songs,  by  a  certain  sort  of  war  whistle, 
by  its  head-dress  and  a  number  of  other  details  of  attire  and 
ceremony.  For  the  men  there  were  six  recognized  bands.  As 
men  grew  older  they  went  from  one  band  to  the  next.  Each 
band  or  society  had  a  limited  membership,  and  a  place  in  the 
band  above  was  only  obtained  by  purchase  from  a  member 
who  was  ready  to  resign  his  place,  and  try  to  purchase  a  place 
in  a  band  still  higher  up.  New  members  must  be  received  by 
all  the  old  members  of  the  band  or  the  sale  could  not  be  made. 
Each  society  had  a  chief  who  was  in  charge  of  all  important 
affairs.  After  a  sale  the  new  member  gave  a  feast  to  the  whole 
band,  and  following  this  the  purchase  property  was  returned  to 


130 


THE  MAN  DANS. 


the  buyers.  The  first  band  was  that  of  “The  Dogs  Whose 
Names  Are  Not  Known.”  To  this  band  boys  from  ten  to 
fifteen  years  of  age  could  belong.  Maximilian  was  told  that  at 
first  older  men  might  belong  to  this  band  but  that  this  was 
afterwards  changed.  Admission  to  this  society  and  the  learn¬ 
ing  of  the  dance  was  bought  from  a  member  by  the  boy’s 
father.  Maximilian  says  that  the  dances  of  all  the  bands  were 
about  the  same,  the  differences  being  in  the  songs.  Each  band 
had  a  particular  drum  and  rattle. 

The  second  band  was  the  ‘  ‘  Band  of  the  Crows  ’  ’  composed  of 
men  from  twenty  to  twenty-six  years  of  age.1  There  was 
usually  an  interval  between  the  first  and  the  second  band  when 
the  man  belonged  to  no  group.  Crow  plumes  were  the  distin¬ 
guishing  feature  of  this  division. 

The  third  society  was  the  “Soldier  Band”  and  was  com¬ 
posed  of  the  most  distinguished  warriors  of  the  tribe.  The 
members  of  this  band  could  never  retreat  before  an  enemy. 
Another  feature  was  its  possession  of  two  sacred  pipes.  All 
members  of  the  higher  bands  belonged  at  the  same  time  to 
this  one.  This  group  had  charge  of  policing  and  regulating  the 
village,  a  well-known  feature  of  the  Soldier  Band  among  the 
Sioux  and  other  plains  tribes.  They  formed  a  committee 
which  regulated  all  the  important  affairs  of  the  nation,  fixed 
the  time  for  hunts  and  applied  all  the  laws.2 

The  fourth  division  was  the  ‘  ‘  Dog  Band.  ’  ’  Three  members 
from  this  wore  a  red  cloth  down  the  back  such  as  all  the  first 
band  wore.  These  three  were  known  as  the  Dogs,  and  anyone 
could  throw  a  piece  of  meat  on  the  floor  or  in  the  fire,  saying 
“There,  Dog,  eat,”  and  any  of  these  three  must  obey. 

The  fifth  band  was  that  of  the  “Buffalos”  or  “Wolves.” 
These  in  dancing  wore  the  skin  of  a  buffalo  head  with  the  horns. 
The  two  bravest,  chosen  by  all,  who  never  under  any  conditions 
could  flee  from  an  enemy,  wore  the  whole  head  and  horns  and 
looked  through  artificial  eyes.  This  was  the  only  band  which 
had  a  wooden  drum.  In  this  society  there  was  also  one  woman 
who  offered  the  two  head  dancers  a  basin  of  water  as  they 
danced. 


Op.  cit.,  p.  409. 


2  Ibid.,  p.  411. 


THE  MAN  DANS. 


131 


The  sixth  group  was  that  of  the  ‘  ‘  Black-tail  Deer  ’  ’  and 
consisted  of  men  over  fifty  years  of  age.  There  were  two  women 
in  this  band  who  served  food  and  distributed  fresh  water  during 
the  dances.  The  men  wore  a  crown  of  bears’  claws. 

There  were  a  few  other  dances  which  were  bought  and  sold, 
but  which  hardly  deserve  a  place  in  the  regular  system.  One 
of  these  was  the  dance  of  the  “  Half  Shaven  Head  Band”  which 
the  lowest  band  could  buy  before  reaching  the  proper  age  to  buy 
into  the  “  Soldier  Band.”  Another  was  the  "Old  Dog  Dance.  ” 
The  “  Dog  Band”  could  buy  this  of  the  “  Buffalo  Band”  before 
becoming  Buffalos  themselves  or  being  able  to.  The  "Hot 
Dance”  was  danced  at  Rouhptare  by  the  youngest  band,  and 
also  at  the  Hidatsa  village  where  it  was  purchased  from  the 
Arikara.  The  dancers  danced  barefoot  over  live  coals  and 
plunged  their  hands  into  boiling  water. 

The  women,  too,  were  divided  into  bands.  There  were  four 
of  these  of  which  the  first  was  "The  Band  of  the  Gun”  which 
consisted  of  the  younger  girls.  Next  was  the  "  River  Band.” 
The  third  band  was  the  "Hay  Women”  who  sang  only  the 
scalp  dance.  The  fourth  and  last  band  was  that  of  the  ‘  ‘Women 
of  the  White  Cow,  ’  ’  most  of  them  were  old,  and  they  were  all 
tattooed  with  black  lines  from  the  mouth  to  the  base  of  the 
chin. 

The  marriage  customs  of  the  Mandan  Indians  differed  little 
from  those  of  their  neighbors.  Polygamy  was  common,  al¬ 
though  a  large  part  of  the  men  had  but  one  wife.  Descent  was 
probably  along  the  male  line,  though  there  may  have  been 
remains  of  an  older  custom  of  descent  along  the  female  line,  for 
all  the  horses  captured  by  a  young  man  belonged  to  his  sister. 
The  women  worked  hard  and  were  sometimes  badly  treated 
though  not  as  a  general  rule.  Lewis  and  Clarke  says  that  infi¬ 
delity  was  punishable  by  death.  Maximilian  says  it  was  pun¬ 
ishable  by  cutting  off  the  woman’s  nose.  When  a  man’s  wife 
was  stolen  he  had  a  right  to  demand  a  horse  from  the  abductor. 
Separations  occurred  among  them  quite  frequently.  Virtue 
among  the  women  was  held  in  high  esteem  but  was  rather 
scarce.  There  are  accounts  of  a  celebration  where  prizes  were 
given  to  the  virtuous  maids  —  these  celebrations  also  took  place 


132 


THE  MANDANS. 


among  the  Ankara  and  Hidatsa.  The  men  boasted  their  love 
exploits,  and  carried  often  about  the  village  small  bundles  of 
sticks  each  representing  a  conquest,  or  one  large  stick  with 
stripes  indicating  the  number;  this  was  also  a  Hidatsa  custom. 

When  a  man  wished  to  marry,  after  obtaining  the  girl ’s  and 
the  father’s  consent,  he  led  horses  to  the  door  of  the  father’s 
house  and  tied  them  there.  Then  the  father  took  the  same  num¬ 
ber  of  his  own  horses  and  tied  them  to  the  young  man’s  door. 
After  this  the  girl  cooked  corn  each  day  and  carried  it  to  the 
young  man’s  house  for  a  certain  number  of  days.  Then  the 
young  man  went  to  the  father’s  house  and  claimed  his  wife. 
The  young  people  either  built  a  new  home  or  lived  with  one  of 
their  parents,  in  which  case  the  father  remained  master  of  the 
house.  On  marrying  an  eldest  sister,  a  man  acquired  the  right 
of  marriage  over  all  the  other  sisters.  Gatlin  tells  us  that  the 
girls  usually  married  at  from  twelve  to  fourteen  years  of  age. 

Children  were  never  disciplined  and  were  always  humored 
by  their  parents  who  seemed  to  be  very  fond  of  them.  The 
father’s  brother  and  sister  were  called  father  and  mother.  The 
mother’s  sister  was  called  mother  and  her  brother  uncle. 
Cousins  called  each  other  brother  and  sister.  The  mother-in- 
law  was  not  permitted  to  address  her  son-in-law  till  he  had 
come  back  with  the  scalp  and  gun  of  an  enemy.  Someone  was 
usually  paid  to  give  the  child  his  name,  which  was  chosen  by 
the  parent. 

Religion:  —  The  religious  ideas  of  the  Mandans  resemble  in 
a  number  of  respects  both  those  of  the  Sioux  and  the  Arikara. 
While  there  are  a  number  of  deities,  there  was  one  among  them 
to  whom  special  veneration  was  paid.  This  one,  the  creator 
of  the  earth  and  everything  in  it,  and  of  men,  was  called  the 
Lord  of  Life.1  Next  after  him  came  the  First  Man  to  whom 
the  Lord  of  Life  gave  great  power  and  who  acted  as  a  sort  of 
mediator  for  men.  Catlin  says  he  was  the  only  person  saved 
from  the  great  deluge,  and  he  played  an  important  part  in  the 
Okeepa.  He  was  worshipped  and  sacrifices  were  made  to  him. 
Next  was  an  evil  spirit  who,  though  powerful,  ranks  far  below 
the  First  Man.  Fourth  on  the  list  was  Rokanka-Tauihanka 


1  Maximilian  :  j>.  41!). 


THE  MANDANS. 


133 


who  lives  on  the  planet  Venus  and  protects  men.  Fifth  was  one 
called  the  Lying  Prairie  Wolf,  a  sort  of  wandering  Jew  and  evil 
spirit,  but  without  power.  Lastly  was  Ochkih-Hedde;  he  came 
once  to  the  village  and  taught  them  many  things,  then  disap¬ 
peared.  When  anyone  saw  him  in  a  dream  it  was  a  sign  of  death. 
Sacrifices  were  offered  to  him  and  images  of  him  were  exposed 
in  the  village. 

The  sun  was  worshipped  as  the  place  where  the  Lord  of  Life 
lived.  In  the  moon  lived  the  Old  Woman  Who  Never  Dies, 
who  had  a  white  line  around  her  head.  She  corresponded  to 
the  Corn  Mother  of  the  Arikara  and  was  supposed  to  be  very 
powerful.  Many  sacrifices  were  offered  to  her.  She  had  six 
children,  three  sons  and  three  daughters.  The  first  son  was 
day  (the  first  of  creation),  the  second  was  the  sun,  the  third  was 
night.  The  eldest  daughter  was  the  morning  star  (the  woman 
who  carries  a  bunch  of  feathers),  the  second  was  the  striped 
pumpkin  (a  star  revolving  about  the  polar  star),  the  third  was 
the  evening  star.  Besides  these  there  was  a  group  of  super¬ 
natural  beings  of  less  prominence,  among  whom  were  the  first 
chief,  certain  animal  people,  the  thunder-bird  and  similar  beings. 

They  seemed  to  have  two  distinct  theories  as  to  the  here¬ 
after,  according  to  Maximilian  part  of  the  people  adhered  to 
each  view.  Both  beliefs  agreed  that  each  man  had  four  souls, 
one  black,  one  brown,  one  clear,  and  the  other  not  described. 
The  first  sect  believed  that  the  clear  soul  returned  to  the  Lord  of 
Life ;  another  one  went  to  the  villages  to  the  south  which  are 
often  visited  by  the  gods,  and  one  of  the  souls  of  the  brave  and 
great  men  went  to  the  villages  of  the  gods.  There  was  a  separ¬ 
ate  village  for  the  wicked.  Life  in  all  these  villages  was  a  con¬ 
tinuance  of  that  on  earth,  they  had  food,  women,  went  hunting 
and  on  war  parties,  and  had  an  abundance  of  everything.  To 
this  might  be  added  Gatlin’s  story,1  somewhat  less  credible, 
that  they  believed  in  a  warm  heaven  and  a  cold  hell;  that  all 
went  to  hell  for  a  while  where  the  Good  Spirit  punished  them, 
after  which  they  went  to  heaven  where  they  were  again  tempted 
by  the  Evil  Spirit.  The  other  sect  described  by  Maximilian 
believed  that  after  death  they  went  to  live  in  the  sun  or  stars.2 


1  Op.  cit.,  vol.  2,  p.  157. 


2  Op.  cit.,  p.  480. 


134 


THE  MANDANS 


In  this  description  of  an  after  life,  there  was  a  marked  mixture 
of  ideas.  The  idea  of  multiple  souls  is  Siouan,  the  rest  is  more 
or  less  common  over  most  of  the  region. 

As  usual  in  the  plains  area  every  natural  phenomenon  and 
unaccountable  event  was  mystery  or  medicine,  and  the  medicine 
idea  played  the  usual  important  part  in  all  their  religious  cus¬ 
toms.  Thunder  was  ascribed  to  the  familiar  thunder-bird,  the 
glitter  of  whose  eyes  dug  a  path  through  the  clouds  for  the  rain 
and  caused  the  lightning.1  Solitary  claps  of  thunder  were  as¬ 
cribed  to  a  huge  turtle  which  lived  in  the  clouds.  The  rain¬ 
bow  was  said  to  be  a  spirit  which  accompanies  the  sun  and 
which  shows  itself  when  the  sun  retires  for  the  night.  The 
aurora  borealis  was  said  to  be  the  fire  kindled  at  an  assembly  of 
the  great  medicine  men  and  warriors  of  the  northern  nations, 
over  which  they  cooked  their  dead  enemies  in  huge  pots.2 
They  had  several  beliefs  about  the  stars — that  of  the  Sioux, 
that  each  star  is  a  man, and  when  a  child  is  born  the  star  comes 
down  and  when  he  dies  it  returns;  also  that  a  multitude  of  super¬ 
natural  beings  existed  in  the  stars  to  which  sacrifices  and  prayers 
were  offered.  Dreams  were  of  Aery  great  importance  and 
governed  nearly  all  their  acts. 

There  were  many  small  personal  superstitions  or  mysteries. 
One  man  told  Maximilian  that  he  could  turn  a  snowball  into  a 
white  stone,  another  claimed  that  his  nose  always  bled  if  he  picked 
up  his  pipe  by  the  bowl.  There  were  many  signs  of  good  and  bad 
luck.  A  pregnant  woman  was  considered  to  bring  luck  at  the 
game  of  Skohpe.  The  medicine  men  told  them  that  if  a  clay 
image  of  an  enemy  were  made  with  a  needle  or  quill  in  it  for  a 
heart,  and  were  placed  at  the  foot  of  some  medicine  structure, 
that  enemy  would  die.  A  pregnant  woman  brings  bad  luck  to 
her  husband  in  hunting.  Many  of  the  Mandans  believed  that 
they  had  some  animal,  as  a  buffalo,  turtle  or  frog  in  them;  the 
women  had  a  dance  when  they  thought  an  ear  of  corn  was  in 
them, which  the  dance  caused  to  come  out.3  There  were  a  num¬ 
ber  of  other  superstitions  of  this  sort,  mostly  common  to  all 
the  plains  tribes.  One  more  notable  might  be  mentioned,  how¬ 
ever, that  of  building  the  fire  with  two  sticks  crossed  in  thecenter, 

1  Ibid.,  p.  422. 


2  Ibid.,  p.  4>3. 


3  Ibid.,  p.  463. 


THE  MANDANS. 


135 


which  were  pushed  in  as  they  burnt.  This  was  done  because  the 
First  Man  told  them  they  must  never  have  a  big  fire  after  the 
day’s  cooking  was  done  and  showed  them  how  it  should  be 
built.  It  recalls  the  sacred  fire  of  the  Muskogi  and  other  tribes 
of  the  lower  Mississippi.  They  declared  that  many  of  the  every 
day  customs  were  taught  them  thus  and  consequently  they 
always  did  them  a  certain  way, — thus  Ochkih-Hedde  taught 
them  to  tattoo  themselves,  and  their  first  chief  taught  them  to 
kill  buffalo  and  to  make  shields. 

The  Mandans  practiced  penances  and  sacrifices,  especially 
self-torture  which  they  carried  to  great  extremes.  Their  medi¬ 
cine  or  personal  guardian  spirit  was  acquired  by  three  or  four 
days  fasting  and  self  injury,  after  which  the  medicine,  often  an 
animal,  appeared  to  the  candidate  in  a  dream.  This  ceremony 
was  also  taught  to  them  by  Ochkih-Hedde.  No  expedition  or 
enterprise  was  undertaken  without  a  liberal  sacrifice  to  some 
supernatural  being,  either  by  offering  valuable  goods  or  by 
physical  self-torture.  Finger  joints  were  frequently  cut  off  as 
an  offering  to  the  gods  and  fasting  was  common  as  a  propitia¬ 
tion.  Often  a  day  or  more  would  be  spent  near  one  of  the  medi¬ 
cine  scaffolds  in  groaning,  praying  and  weeping.  Lewis  and 
Clarke  relate  that  finger  joints  were  also  cut  off  as  a  sign  of 
mourning,  which  Maximilian  denies,  and  Catlin  tells  how  such 
a  sacrifice  was  a  part  of  the  catalogue  of  tortures  in  the  great 
Okeepa  dance.  The  custom  of  consecrating  personal  property 
is  found  here  as  among  the  neighboring  tribes.  A  man  could 
make  his  gun,  his  horse,  his  pipe  and  other  similar  articles 
medicine  by  going  through  certain  ceremonies,  most  important 
of  which  was  the  giving  of  a  feast.  The  feast1  was  announced 
by  a  public  crier,  a  certain  number  of  guests  were  invited,  the 
invitations  being  originally  little  rods  and  later  playing  cards. 
The  drum  and  rattle  made  the  round  of  the  company.  Then 
the  article  was  consecrated;  if  a  gun,  it  was  rubbed  with  meal 
several  times,  with  soup,  and  lastly  with  fat,  after  which  the  feast 
took  place. 

There  were  many  shrines  and  sacred  articles  among  the  Man¬ 
dans,  but  judging  from  the  accounts,  the  sacred  bundles  or 


1  Maximilian :  p.  463. 


136 


THE  MANDANS. 


medicine  bags  as  Maximilian  calls  them,  seem  to  have  been 
much  less  important  than  among  the  Arikara.  Nevertheless 
these  bundles  were  by  no  means  absent.  Maximilian  relates 
that  each  man  had  his  own  medicine  bag,  the  contents  of  which 
no  one  else  might  see.  In  addition  to  this  there  was  a  large 
medicine  bag  in  the  medicine  lodge  within  which,  Maximilian 
tells  us,  were  preserved  three  sacred  skulls,  those  of  the  chief 
who  had  led  them  out  from  underground,  of  his  sister,  and  of 
his  brother  —  also  this  chief’s  rattle.  In  the  medicine  lodge 
were  also  the  sacred  rattle  and  the  four  drums  of  hide,  filled  with 
water,  which  were  made  to  resemble  turtles  and  which  they 
claimed,  according  to  Catlin,  they  had  always  had.  They  had 
a  sacred  pipe  or  calumet  also,  which  Maximilian  was  not  allowed 
to  see,  the  price  of  looking  at  it  alone  being  placed  at  one  hun¬ 
dred  dollars.  He  says1  that  it  was  very  hard  for  the  Mandans 
to  get  these  sacred  pipes  and  much  more  trouble  to  consecrate 
them.  Certain  things  must  be  hung  upon  them  and  among 
these  was  the  skull  of  an  animal  which  at  that  time  was 
not  found  in  the  vicinity,  and  for  which  an  enormous  price  had 
to  be  given.  There  were  many  other  pipes  called  medicine 
pipes  belonging  to  private  owners,  these  however  were  merely 
ordinary  pipes  which  had  been  consecrated  by  the  ceremony 
already  described.  Each  Mandan  regarded  his  own  medicine 
as  a  sacred  animal,  and  in  addition  there  were  several  animals 
which  were  regarded  as  sacred  throughout  the  whole  tribe. 
Owls  and  screech  owls  were  kept  in  the  lodges  to  predict  the 
future.  The  war-eagle  was  considered  as  having  great  medi¬ 
cine  power  and  they  kept  all  sorts  of  birds  of  prey  alive  in  the 
huts  for  their  plumes.  Geese  were  considered  to  be  very  sacred 
also,  first  because  in  one  of  their  tales  the  Lord  of  Life  turned 
into  a  goose  and  flew  away  with  a  flock  of  them,  and  also  as 
they  are  the  messengers  of  the  Old  Woman  Who  Never  Dies  or 
the  Corn  Mother.  Of  greatest  importance  among  these  sacred 
animals,  however,  was  the  white  buffalo,  whose  hide  was  the 
most  valuable  article  that  a  Mandan  could  possess.  The  hides 
were  bought  mostly  from  other  nations,  they  were  tanned  with 
horns  and  hoofs  on,  and  were  not  valuable  unless  of  heifers 


1  Op.  cit.,  p.  439. 


THE  MANDANS. 


137 


under  two  years  old.  These  hides  were  worth  ten  to  fifteen 
horses  or  sixty  ordinary  robes.  No  man  could  be  of  great  im¬ 
portance  in  the  tribe  unless  he  had  at  one  time  owned  one 
of  them.  Immediately  on  its  acquisition  the  hide  was  hung 
up  on  a  pole  before  the  owner’s  lodge  and  consecrated  to  the 
Lord  of  Life,  the  sun,  or  the  First  Man.  The  ceremony  of  con¬ 
secration  was  rather  elaborate  and  was  conducted  by  the  sha¬ 
man.  A  great  mass  of  valuables,  the  collection  of  three  or 
four  years,  was  also  offered  or  given  away  at  the  same  time. 
The  robe  was  either  left  suspended  until  it  rotted  away,  or  was 
taken  down  and  cut  into  strips,  one  of  wThich  was  worn  by  each 
member  of  the  owner’s  family. 

The  Mandans  seem  to  have  had  something  in  the  nature  of 
shrines  and  sacred  images  both  natural  and  artificial.  First 
among  the  artificial  ones  might  be  mentioned  the  Ark  or  Big 
Canoe  which  has  already  been  described.  This  formed  the 
central  figure  for  most  of  the  Mandan  ceremonial  dances.  There 
was  also  the  image  of  Ochkih-Hedde  which  hung  before  the 
medicine  lodge;  and  there  were  similar  images  hanging  before 
nearly  every  one  of  the  other  lodges,  these  were  made  of  skin, 
branches  and  earth1  and  were  intended  to  represent  the  Lord 
of  Life  and  the  First  Man.  Other  shrine-like  structures  were 
built  on  the  prairie.  One  of  these  is  described  by  Maximilian.2 
“  .  .  .  Four  poles  are  placed  in  a  square,  the  two  front  ones 
garnished  at  the  base  with  a  pile  of  earth  and  sod.  Between 
them  are  four  buffalo  skulls  in  a  row,  between  the  two  back 
poles  are  twenty-six  human  skulls  painted  partly  with  red 
stripes,  behind  the  whole  are  two  knives  fixed  in  the  ground. 
The  poles  are  surmounted  by  bundles  of  branches;  on  these 
again  is  a  crest  of  pieces  of  sharp  wood,  the  ends  painted  red. 
.  .  .  Sometimes  on  two  of  the  poles  are  tied  stuffed  figures  to 
represent  the  sun  and  moon,  or  the  Lord  of  Life  and  the  Old 
Woman  Who  Never  Dies.  Wild  absinthe  (wormwood)  is  at¬ 
tached  by  handfuls  to  the  poles.  ’  ’  These  are  probably  the 
same  things  which  Catlin  mentions  in  connection  with  the 
burial  customs. 

Chief  among  the  natural  shrines  was  the  medicine  rock  of 


1  Maximilian  :  p.  444. 


2  Ibid.,  p.  460. 


138 


THE  MANDANS. 


which  Lewis  and  Clarke,  Henry,  Catlin,  and  Maximilian  all  give 
accounts.  The  Mandans  told  Lewis  and  Clarke  that  this  rock, 
which  was  at  three  days  march  to  the  southwest, informed  them 
of  every  thing  to  happen  during  the  year  and  that  they  visited 
it  every  spring  and  sometimes  in  the  summers.1  The  descrip¬ 
tion  which  Maximilian  gives  of  this  rock  seems  worth  repetition  : 
‘  ‘  It  is  situated  at  two  or  three  days  from  the  village  on  the 
edge  of  the  Cannonball  River  from  which  it  is  about  one  hun¬ 
dred  paces.  They  say  it  is  on  the  summit  of  a  rather  high 
hill,  the  top  of  which  is  level.  It  is  marked  by  the  foot¬ 
prints  of  men  and  other  animals,  dogs  and  travois.  It  is  a 
sort  of  oracle.  They  offer  it  all  sorts  of  valuable  articles  — 
knives,  pipes,  cloth.  .  .  .  When  going  to  war  they  pass 
near  and  consult  the  stone.  They  approach  it,  weep,  groan, 
smoke,  and  retire  to  a  distance  where  they  pass  the  night.  Next 
day  they  take  down  on  parchment  what  the  stone  shows.  This 
painted  parchment  is  carried  to  the  village  where  the  old  men 
interpret  it.  Undoubtedly  new  figures  are  seen  on  the  stone 
from  time  to  time.  Not  far  from  this  place  was  the  ark  where 
part  of  the  nation  was  saved.”  The  Minnetarees  also  had  one 
of  these  medicine  stones  which  was  consulted  in  practically 
the  same  way.  One  more  of  their  natural  sacred  objects  deserves 
mention;  this  was  a  lake  some  distance  from  their  villages 
where  a  great  serpent,  formerly  a  Mandan  warrior,  was  said  to 
reside.  This  serpent  was  a  good  genius  and  offerings  of  all 
sorts  were  thrown  into  the  lake  to  procure  his  aid. 

The  shaman  although  mentioned  occasionally  is  not  de¬ 
scribed,  nor  are  his  powers  well  defined  by  any  of  the  authori¬ 
ties.  Maximilian  remarked  that  there  were  shamans  who 
gathered  herbs  and  pretended  to  cure  diseases  and  others  who 
did  tricks  and  conducted  preparations  for  the  ceremonies. 

Mythology  : — Practically  all  material  on  Mandan  mythology 
comes  from  Maximilian  who  wrote  down  a  large  number  of 
stories  directly  as  they  were  told  to  him  by  a  Mandan  chief, 
Dipeuch.  Catlin  and  Lewis  and  Clarke  reinforce  these  with  a 
few  details.  It  is  found  by  analysis  of  the  myths  given  by 
Maximilian  that  two  distinct,  parallel,  mythological  stories  of 


1  Lewis  and  Clarke:  Feb. ‘21, 1S05. 


THE  MANDANS. 


139 


the  origin  of  the  people  existed,  both  were  told  by  the  same 
man,  each  of  these  accounts  being  made  up  of  a  number  of 
separate  myths.  Perhaps  a  short  synopsis  of  these  two  cycles 
will  best  show  the  condition  of  the  mythology  and  the  relation¬ 
ship  with  that  of  other  nations.  According  to  one  of  these,  the 
Tiord  of  Life  created  the  First  Man,  who  in  turn  created  the  earth. 
It  was  made  of  mud  brought  up  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea 
by  a  duck.  The  First  Man  walked  about  on  it,  meeting  some 
animals  and  then  finally  the  Lord  of  Life;  a  dispute  arose 
between  the  two  as  to  which  should  be  called  father,  and  they 
sat  down,  agreeing  that  the  first  one  to  rise  should  be  the  son. 
Many  years  they  sat  and  when  the  Lord  of  Life  was  only  a 
pile  of  whitened  bones,  the  First  Man  arose.  At  once  the  Lord 
of  Life  jumped  up  and  was  acknowledged  as  father.  The  two 
of  them  went  about  together,  the  Lord  of  Life  said  the  earth 
must  be  remade  and  called  the  buffalo,  who  was  commanded 
to  fetch  grass  and  wood.  Then  the  two  gods  each  took  half 
the  land  to  shape — they  were  at  the  mouth  of  the  Heart  River 
and  the  Lord  of  Life  took  the  south  side  of  the  Missouri,  the  First 
Man  took  the  north.  The  Lord  of  Life  made  hills  and  coulees,  but 
First  Man  made  his  section  flat  and  wooded  so  people  could 
not  live  there.  Then  each  made  himself  a  wooden  pipe,  the 
Lord  of  Life  making  his  of  ash  wood  inlaid  with  stone,  the  First 
Man  making  his  of  soft  wood.  They  placed  the  two  together 
and  the  Lord  of  Life  said,  “  This  will  be  the  center,  the  heart 
of  the  world.”  They  walked  along  and  met  a  buffalo  from 
whom  they  got  tobacco.  Then  they  made  men,  but  limited 
their  life  to  one  hundred  years  lest  the  world  be  over-populated, 
and  these  men  were  taught  by  the  Lord  of  Life  to  use  buffalo. 
After  this  the  Lord  of  Life  and  the  First  Man  killed  all  the  old 
wolves  and  taught  the  young  ones  not  to  eat  men,  the  skins  of 
the  old  ones  floating  down  the  river,  turned  into  white  men. 
A  little  later  the  First  Man  saw  a  girl  ineffectually  attempt¬ 
ing  to  bring  ashore  a  dead  buffalo  cow,  he  supernaturally  guided 
it  to  her  and  she  ate  some  of  the  flesh  and  in  consequence  be¬ 
came  pregnant.  A  boy  was  born  to  her  who  became  the  first 
chief.  This  chief  made  a  canoe  which  understood  him  when 
he  spoke  to  it.  In  it  he  sent  some  men  down  to  a  white  nation 


140 


THE  MAN  DANS. 


to  get  shells  and  beads.  The  men  were  killed,  so  finally  he  went 
himself  and  came  back  safely.  Then  the  First  Man  went  down 
with  another  party  and  all  were  killed  but  he.  He  saved  him¬ 
self  by  strategy.  The  white  men  became  angry  because  they 
could  not  kill  him  and  they  made  the  waters  rise  so  that  the 
whole  earth  was  submerged.  Related  to  this  is  a  statement  by 
a  Mandan  to  Catlin  that  the  earth  was  a  huge  turtle,  the 
white  men  stuck  a  knife  through  its  shell  and  it  sank  so  the 
water  flooded  its  back.  The  First  Man  made  them  build  a 
tower  on  a  height  on  the  lower  bank  of  the  Heart  River  and 
the  whole  nation  was  saved  there.  Soon  after  the  flood,  the  First 
Man  went  away  to  the  west  and  said  he  would  come  back  when 
they  needed  him.  One  day  they  wanted  him  and  could  not 
discover  how  to  reach  him,  till  at  last  a  man  said  that  thought 
would  do  it.  He  sat  down  and  thought  and  cried,  “I  think,  I 
have  thought,  I  return,  ’  ’  and  rose  bathed  in  sweat,  and  the  First 
Man  came,  and  helped  them.  Just  after  this  the  Lord  of  Life 
turned  into  a  goose  and  being  hurt  fell  into  a  Mandan  village 
where  he  escaped  plucking  by  cursing  the  women.  Thence  he  flew 
to  the  Hidatsa  village,  where  he  clawed  and  beat  a  woman  who 
said  she  would  have  no  one  but  the  Lord  of  Life  for  her  husband. 
The  next  day,  however,  he  returned  to  the  sun  and  caused  her 
to  ascend  to  him  by  means  of  a  rope  which  he  letdown,  the  story 
continuing  the  Siouan  myth  of  the  boy  and  the  mother  coming 
down  a  sinew  cord  to  the  earth  again. 

The  second  cycle  of  stories  does  not  begin  with  a  creation 
myth,  but  merely  with  a  brief  account  of  the  earliest  existence. 
The  Mandans  said  that  there  were  four  stories  under  the  earth 
and  four  stories  above;  before  the  flood  they  lived  in  a  village 
under  the  earth  near  a  lake,  and  a  grape-vine  grew  down  through, 
letting  the  light  into  the  underworld.  They  wanted  to  come 
up  and  sent  the  mouse,  badger,  a  strange,  mythical  animal  and 
a  deer  to  dig  out  a  hole.  Then  they  climbed  out  by  the  grape¬ 
vine  till  half  were  on  earth  and  a  very  corpulent  woman  broke 
the  vine.  A  flood  came  when  they  were  first  coming  out  and 
the  firsttribe  (Tattooed  Faces)  perished  almost  wholly.  All  this 
happened  near  a  lake  to  the  east.  If  they  are  good  the 
Mandans  go  back  to  thisold  village  under  ground  when  they  die. 


THE  MANDANS. 


141 


They  now  found  themselves  on  the  surface  of  the  earth.  The  peo¬ 
ple  were  led  by  a  chief  and  they  kept  walking  till  they  reached 
the  Missouri  at  the  mouth  of  the  White  River.  They  ascended 
it  to  the  Moreau,  here  they  found  enemies  in  the  Cheyenne, 
and  they  went  to  war  and  killed  and  scalped  for  the  first  time. 
The  great  chief  who  led  them  out  of  the  earth  together  with 
his  sister  and  brother  taught  them  to  make  shields,  and  then  he 
divided  them  into  bands  and  led  them  against  the  Cheyenne. 
After  a  long  struggle  he  performed  a  miracle  by  which  the  enemy 
were  nearly  all  slain.  Then  the  Mandans  moved  up  to  the  Heart 
River.  Here  one  day,  four  Hidatsa  came  to  them  for  a  time 
and  on  leaving  promised  to  return  in  four  days.  Four  years  later 
they  returned  with  a  numerous  band.  The  Hidatsa  crossed 
the  river  and  built  villages,  and  the  Mandans  taught  them  to 
raise  corn.  Then  after  a  few  years  they  moved  up  to  the  Knife 
River  where  they  settled.  This  was  during  the  period  at 
which  the  Mandans  lived  in  a  village  on  the  Heart  River. 

Besides  these  two  myth  cycles  there  are  also  a  number  of 
tales  as  yet  unconnected  with  either  group.  First  among 
these  should  be  considered  the  tales  about  the  Old  Woman 
Who  Never  Dies.  The  Old  Woman  Who  Never  Dies  owns  a 
very  large  plantation  in  the  south  where  her  two  deer  and 
many  blackbirds  guard  her  crops,  and  the  mouse  and  mole 
help  work  the  soil.  The  water  birds  she  sends  north  as  her 
representatives  in  the  spring,  and  at  the  same  time  goes  north 
to  visit  the  Old  Man  Who  Never  Dies,  but  she  stays  with  him 
only  a  short  time.  She  is  the  goddess  of  corn,  and  the  cere¬ 
monies  in  her  honor  are  to  bring  good  crops.  Formerly  she 
lived  on  the  Little  Missouri  where  the  Indians  visited  her.  She 
gave  the  Hidatsa  once  a  little  corn  in  a  dish  and  it  fed  twelve 
men.  Finally  she  went  south  to  live. 

The  story  of  the  great  serpent  forms  an  important 
tale  for  comparative  purposes.  The  great  serpent  was  sup¬ 
posed  to  have  been  one  of  two  Mandan  braves  who  crawled 
through  a  hole  in  the  bluff  and  came  out  in  a  land  of  giants. 
On  returning,  the  two  killed  a  monstrous  snake  of  which  one 
of  them  ate.  He  himself  soon  turned  into  a  great  snake  and 
became  a  sort  of  minor  deity  for  the  people. 


142 


THE  MANDANS. 


As  has  been  said  there  are  in  the  Mandan  myths  two  distinct 
cycles  of  tales;  there  seems  to  be  two  sources  for  the  detached 
stories  as  well.  The  first  cycle  seems  to  be  along  the  lines  of 
the  Siouan  and  Algonquin  stories.  The  creation  myth  is  much 
like  that  of  the  Chippewa:  the  naming  of  the  animals,  the  story 
of  theSun  Boy,  and  thetaleof  reaching  the  First  Man  by  thought, 
seem  to  be  Siouan  in  their  origin  for  we  find  them  most  im¬ 
portant  in  that  stock.  The  creation  myth  exists  likewise 
among  the  Crows,  and  it  is  told  by  the  Arikara, — the  latter, 
however,  have  a  more  popular  creation  tale.  The  Man- 
dan  myth  is  not  found  among  theSkidi  Pawnee.  The  story  of 
the  making  of  the  Heart  River  region  is  naturally  found  among 
the  Arikara  as  are  some  tales  about  Lucky  Man  and  the  Wolf 
who  seem  to  correspond  to  the  Lord  of  I  fife  and  the  First 
Man,  but  none  of  these  characters  are  found  among  the  Skidi 
tales  where  Tirawa,  the  Creator,  has  no  companion  in  his  work. 
The  tale  of  the  struggle  between  the  Lord  of  Life  and  the  First 
Man  as  to  which  should  be  father  is  distinguishable  in  the  Ari¬ 
kara,  but  not  in  the  Skidi.  The  tale  of  the  Sun  Boy  is,  how¬ 
ever,  found  in  the  Pawnee,  but  is  known  also  in  practically 
every  plains  tribe.  The  story  of  the  child  born  to  the  girl  from 
eating  cow  fat,  is  in  the  Crow  but  not  in  the  Arikara  or  Skidi. 
In  general  so  far  as  comparable  material  is  at  hand  these  tales 
do  not  appear  to  be  of  Caddo  origin,  and  are  in  most  cases 
connected  with  the  tales  of  some  other  Siouan  tribe. 

As  to  the  other  cycle  of  tales  there  is  little  in  the  Siouan 
stories  with  which  it  may  be  compared.  The  story  of  an  un¬ 
derground  origin  is  developed  characteristically  in  the  south¬ 
west, — it  appears  in  numerous  forms  among  the  Arikara  and 
with  even  more  detail  among  the  Skidi.  The  first  chief  in  the 
Mandan  migration,  the  man  who  led  them  from  underground, 
is  very  closely  allied  with  the  Corn  Mother  leader  of  the  Ari¬ 
kara,  and  the  preservation  of  his  skull  in  a  sacred  bundle  is 
again  suggestive  of  the  southern  plains. 

The  Corn  Mother  tale  seems  most  clearly  related  to  Caddoan. 
The  tale  of  the  Great  Serpent  as  well  as  that  of  the  Sun  Boy  is 
spread  over  the  whole  plains  region, — the  Crow,  the  Arikara, 
the  Pawnee,  and  the  Dakota  all  possess  more  or  less  close  ver- 


THE  MANDANS. 


143 


sions  of  this  story.  None  of  the  Caddoan  Poor  Boy  stories 
have  been  found  in  the  Mandan,  but  this  may  be  due  to  the 
limited  extent  of  Maximilian’s  collection.  It  can  only  be  said 
that  the  Mandan  myths  so  far  as  known  seem  to  be  about  an 
equal  mixture  of  north  and  south  plains  types. 

Ceremonials:  —  The  Mandan  dance  system  seems  to  have 
been  rather  complicated,  and  in  it  are  found  again  the  two  con¬ 
flicting  influences.  In  one  case  the  origin  of  the  dances  is  said 
to  have  been  due  to  Ochkih-Hedde,  the  evil  spirit.  Again  the 
First  Chief  who  led  them  out  of  the  ground  is  said  to  have 
arranged  all  their  dances,  and  the  Okeepa,  according  to  Gatlin, 
was  instituted  by  the  First  Man.  There  were  two  sorts  of 
dances;  first  those  in  which  it  appears  that  anyone  could  take 
part,  and  secondly  those  belonging  to  the  different  societies 
previously  referred  to.  Of  the  first  kind  there  were  four  prin¬ 
cipal  ones,  and  of  these  the  Buffalo  dance  and  the  Scalp  dance, 
although  not  the  most  important,  were  most  frequently  danced 
and  were  practically  identical  with  the  same  dances  of  other 
plains  tribes;  the  Scalp  dance  was  performed  by  those  related 
to  persons  with  newly  acquired  coups.  The  Buffalo  dances 
were  of  two  types.  One  was  for  the  purpose  of  getting  the  good 
will  of  influential  men  and  is  described  by  Henry  and  Catlin. 
This  dance  had  several  obscene  features.  The  other  Buffalo 
dance  was  danced  by  the  men  in  relays  wearing  a  buffalo 
head  and  its  purpose  was  to  bring  the  buffalo  in  time  of 
need. 

The  other  twro  dances  deserve  more  particular  mention. 
Catlin  says  of  all  these  dances,1  "Every  dance  has  its  peculiar 
step  and  song.  ’  ’  The  songs  were  understood  only  by  the  med¬ 
icine  men  and  required  much  application  and  study.  Candi¬ 
dates  paid  to  learn  them.  This  applies  particularly  to  the 
Okeepa  which  is  the  best-known  dance  of  the  Mandans.  No 
description  is  necessary  as  Catlin  has  given  two  very  full  ones 
and  Maximilian  has  also  given  a  good  account  of  it.  The 
Okeepa  was  performed  once  a  year  as  a  rule  and  nearly  every 
inhabitant  of  the  village  had  some  part  to  play  in  it.  It  lasted 
four  days,  and  in  all  the  dances,  dance  groups  and  ceremonial 


1  Op.  cit.,  vol.  1,  p.  126. 


144 


THE  MANDANS. 


objects,  they  kept  a  careful  observance  of  the  number  four  and  its 
multiples.  The  Okeepa  appears  to  have  been  quite  different 
from  the  usual  sun-dance  ceremonies,  although  the  sun-dance 
observance  formed  a  part  of  it.  Gatlin  says  that  no  other  na¬ 
tion  had  such  a  dance,  although  many  had  features  of  it  in 
their  own  dances.  In  some  respects  it  seems  to  show  a  rather 
remarkable  similarity  to  some  of  the  dances  of  the  Pueblo  re¬ 
gion  and  very  possibly  some  of  these  features  were  transmitted 
from  therethrough  the  southern  plains  tribes.  The  resemblanceis 
in  small  details  such  as  the  decorating  of  the  ark  with  willow 
branches  which  is  much  like  the  preparation  of  the  kisi.  Com¬ 
munication  with  old  villages  underground  was  supposed  to  be 
established  by  pounding  on  the  ark,  as  it  was  among  the 
southwestern  dancers  by  stepping  on  the  sipapu.  From  the 
description  of  the  sacred  object  in  the  center  of  the  Mandan 
altar,  it  seems  to  have  been  something  like  the  Pueblo  squash 
blossoms.  Lastly  the  story  of  the  visit  of  the  First  Man  to 
the  whites  and  his  institution  of  the  Okeepa,  after  having 
escaped  them,  is  much  like  the  origin  story  of  the  Pueblo  Snake 
and  Antelope  Dance.  The  most  peculiar  feature  of  the  cere¬ 
mony  was  the  connection  which  it  had  with  the  flood  myth; 
the  ark  was  supposed  to  be  a  copy  of  the  tower  in  which 
the  Mandans  were  saved  from  the  flood.  It  formed  the  center 
in  all  the  different  parts  of  the  ceremony.  The  Okeepa  had 
features  which  have  been  ascribed  by  Maximilian  to  the  influ¬ 
ence  of  early  missionaries. 

The  second  of  these  dances  was  the  Corn  Dance  and  this 
was  doubtless  of  Caddo  origin.  This  dance  was  danced  to  the 
Old  Woman  Who  Never  Dies  by  the  old  women  of  the  village 
for  whom  a  number  of  old  men  furnished  the  music.  Each 
old  woman  carried  an  ear  of  corn  on  the  end  of  a  stick  and  the 
ceremony  was  intended  to  consecrate  this  corn.  After  the 
consecration  the  corn  was  distributed,  a  few  grains  to  each 
family,  by  whom  it  was  mixed  with  the  seed  corn  for  spring 
planting.  The  ceremony  took  place  when  the  representatives 
of  The  Old  Woman  Who  Never  Dies  —  the  water  birds  —  re¬ 
turned  north,  and  a  quantity  of  dried  meat  was  hung  up  on 
the  scaffolds  as  a  sacrifice.  After  the  dance  this  dried  meat 


THE  MANDANS. 


145 


became  the  property  of  the  dancers.  Another  corn  dance  was 
held  in  the  fall,  but  Maximilian  tells  us  that  the  purpose  of 
this  one  was  to  bring  the  buffalo.  In  this  dance  each  woman 
carried  a  whole  stalk  of  corn— the  corn  was  called  by  the  name 
of  the  water  bird  which  represented  it,  and  a  prayer  was  made 
to  the  Old  Woman  Who  Never  Dies  through  these  birds.  The 
birds  going  south  were  supposed  to  carry  these  prayers  to  their 
mistress,  and  in  this  dance  each  old  woman  made  a  sacrifice 
of  some  valuable  article.  The  elements  of  the  corn  dance  agree 
in  most  particulars  with  those  of  the  Pawnee  and  southern 
plains  tribes. 

Burial: — In  their  burial  customs  the  Mandans  show  close 
analogy  with  the  Sioux.  Their  cemeteries  were  usually  only 
two  hundred  to  three  hundred  paces  from  the  palisade  and 
consisted  of  a  number  of  scaffolds  on  which  the  dead  were 
placed.  These  scaffolds  were  made  on  four  posts  about  twelve 
feet  high,  the  length  of  the  rectangle  being  about  six  feet. 
Across  the  posts  willow  rods,  just  strong  enough  to  support  the 
body,  were  placed.1  When  a  person  died  he  was  left  in  the 
village  but  a  very  short  time;  the  face  was  painted  red,  the 
body  was  oiled,  dressed  in  the  finest  clothes  and  wrapped  in  a 
green  buffalo  skin  or  at  a  later  period  in  a  piece  of  cloth.  The 
whole  was  then  tightly  wrapped  with  thongs  of  rawhide  from 
head  to  foot.  Then  other  robes  were  soaked  in  water  and 
tightly  wrapped  and  tied  around  the  body.  After  this  the 
corpse  was  immediately  carried  out  and  placed  on  the  scaffold 
together  with  a  bow  and  quiver,  shield,  pipe  and  tobacco,  knife, 
flint  and  steel  and  provisions  for  several  days.  In  case  of  a 
child,  it  was  wrapped  up  in  a  small  bundle  which  was  tied 
to  the  scaffold  by  a  cloth  or  hide.  Gatlin  says  the  bodies  were 
placed  with  their  feet  to  the  rising  sun.  Maximilian  says  the 
face  was  turned  to  the  east. 2  Lewis  and  Clarke3  give  an  ac¬ 
count  of  a  different  sort  of  burial  which  must  have  been  of  rare 
occurrence  for  we  find  no  mention  of  anything  of  the  sort  else¬ 
where.  It  is  as  follows:  “An  old  man . one  hundred 

and  twenty  winters  old,  he  requested  his  grand  Children  to 
Dress  him  after  Death,  &  Set  him  on  a  Stone  on  a  hill, with  his 

i  Gatlin;  vol.  1,  p.  89.  2  Op.  cit.,  p.  479.  3  Feb.  20,  1805. 


146 


THE  MANDANS. 


face  towards  his  old  Village  Down  the  river,  that  he  might  go 
Streight  to  his  brother  at  their  old  village  under  ground.  ’  ’ 
When  a  warrior  was  killed  in  battle  he  was  never  buried. 
If  the  body  could  not  be  carried  back  to  the  village,  it 
was  left  as  it  lay.1  In  such  a  case  the  family  would  roll 
up  a  buffalo  skin  and  carry  it  out,  placing  it  on  the  scaffold 
where  it  was  treated  just  as  if  it  held  the  body  of  the 
dead  man. 

Catlin  says  that  when  the  rods  supporting  the  body  broke 
and  the  body  fell,  the  family  interred  all  of  the  bones  except 
the  skull.  Such  skulls  were  placed  eight  or  nine  feet  apart,  in 
circles;  one  hundred  or  more  in  a  circle;  in  the  center  of  each 
circle  was  a  small  mound  about  three  feet  high.  On  this 
mound  were  two  buffalo  skulls,  a  male  and  a  female,  and  in 
the  center  was  a  medicine  pole  twenty  feet  high  supporting 
many  medicine  articles.  Each  skull  was  on  a  bunch  of  wild 
sage. 

The  Mandan  period  of  mourning  was  one  year,  during  which 
they  dressed  poorly  and  kept  the  hair  cut  short.  Immediately 
upon  the  death,  the  relatives  cut  their  hair,  rubbed  their  bodies 
with  white  and  gray  clay,  and  gashed  their  arms  and  legs  with 
a  knife  or  a  stone  so  that  they  were  covered  with  blood.  In  the 
first  few  days  groans  and  weeping  were  continuous.  According 
to  Maximilian  there  was  a  very  solemn  ceremony  concluding 
the  burial,  which  he  called  covering  the  body.  This  act  might 
be  done  either  by  a  relative  or  an  outsider.  The  person  who 
intended  to  cover  the  body  came  with  one  or  two  cloth  cover¬ 
ings,  red,  blue,  white  or  green.  He  mounted  the  scaffold  as 
soon  as  the  body  was  placed  upon  it  and  covered  the  remains 
with  his  covering.  He  then  received  a  present  of  a  horse  from 
the  immediate  relatives.  When  it  was  learned  that  someone 
intended  to  cover  the  dead,  a  horse  was  at  once  tied  to  the 
scaffold  and  as  soon  as  the  body  had  been  covered  the  horse 
was  untied  and  led  away  by  the  man  who  had  performed  that 
office.2  Gifts  of  value  were  hung  all  about  the  scaffold  and 
these  gifts  were  presented  to  those  who  had  assisted  in  prepar¬ 
ing  and  placing  the  body  upon  it. 

*  Maximilian :  p.  472. 


°  Ibid.,  p.  481. 


THE  MANDANS. 


147 


The  Mandan  method  of  burial  was  used  likewise  by  their 
neighbors  the  Hidatsa  and  in  a  modified  form  by  the  Dakota 
and  nearly  all  the  Siouan  tribes.  The  Arikara,  however,  used 
the  opposite  form,  that  of  interment.  With  them  the  dead  were 
buried  in  a  flexed  position  in  graves  (lined  with  stone)  and  the 
scaffold  system  was  never  used. 


SECTION  II. 


ARCHAEOLOGY. 

As  lias  been  stated,  the  villages  of  the  earliest  known  period 
centered  about  the  mouth  of  Heart  River,  with  Square  Butte 
Creek  for  the  northern  and  Apple  Creek  for  the  southern  limit. 
Several  sites  in  this  area  were  examined,  and  one  site,  in  almost 
all  respects  the  best,  was  somewhat  extensively  explored. 

Of  the  village  sites  which  were  only  incidentally  studied, 
the  most  southern  was  that  on  the  west  bank  of  the  Missouri 
near  old  Fort  Abraham  Lincoln.  This  village,  roughly  tri¬ 
angular  in  shape,  occupied  a  bench  bounded  on  one  side  by  an 
old  wash  bank  of  the  river,  on  another  side  by  a  deep  narrow 
coulee,  and  on  the  remaining  side  by  a  high,  steep  hill.  The 
mounds  are  low  and  indefinite  in  outline  and  evidently  much 
disturbed.  On  the  river  side  there  is  an  extensive  talus  com¬ 
posed  largely  of  refuse.  Here  there  has  also  been  a  considerable 
landslide.  On  the  side  nearest  the  hill  there  are  traces  of  a 
ditch,  this  side  being  the  only  one  not  protected  by  nature. 

Another  site,  possessing  natural  defenses  of  the  highest 
order,  is  located  about  three  miles  northwest  of  Bismarck,  on 
the  east  bank  of  the  river.  Here,  a  promontory  with  a  level, 
circular  summit  is  almost  entirely  cut  off  from  the  high  bench 
by  deep  precipitous  ravines.  The  narrow  neck,  as  shown  in 
Map  ii,  was  protected  by  a  ditch  and  wall.  The  ditch  and 
wall  show  two  ox-bow  like  protuberances  which  may  be  the 
remains  of  a  well-flanked  gate.  A  ditch  is  also  seen  at  a  point 
on  the  river  side  where  the  hill-slope  is  less  steep  than  usual. 
On  the  northern  side,  is  a  sort  of  platform  along  the  hillside, 
about  ten  feet  below  the  crest.  This  may  be  the  remains  of  a 
ditch  and  wall,  so  placed  that  the  higher  level  of  the  village 
would  be  a  vantage  point  in  defense  of  the  palisades.  This  will 
be  referred  to  as  the  Ward  site. 

(14S) 


Map  II.  THE  WARD  SITE. 
Dotted  lines  surround  sunken  areas. 


Map  III.  LARSON  SITE. 

Dotted  lines  surround  sunken  areas.  Contour  interval  is  two  feet. 


THE  MANDANS. 


149 


A  third  village  location,  the  Larson  site,  is  almost  devoid 
of  any  natural  defenses.  It  is  situated  on  the  east  bank  of  the 
river,  about  seventeen  miles  above  Bismarck.  This  village 
was  built  upon  the  edge  of  a  wide,  level  bench  which  ranges 
only  about  thirty  feet  above  the  flood  plain  of  the  Missouri.  As 
may  be  seen  by  Map  hi,  the  remains  consist  of  a  well-marked 
ditch  which  traverses  the  central  portion  of  the  site,  a  sunken 
area  near  one  end  of  the  ditch,  and  a  series  of  mounds,  the 
largest  of  which  are  on  the  margin  of  the  site.  Unfortunately, 
the  plow  has  disturbed  the  original  contours  of  the  mounds. 
Moreover,  there  is  some  evidence  that  the  river  may  have  cut 
away  the  bank  and  destroyed  part  of  the  site.  The  position  of 
the  larger  mounds  on  the  outer  edge  is  in  accordance  with  the 
theory  that  they  were  fortifications.  But  the  position  of  the 
ditch  is  something  of  a  mystery.  Instead  of  surrounding  the 
site,  it  seems  to  cut  across  it  and  divide  it  into  two  nearly  equal 
parts.  Adjoining  the  ditch,  and  near  the  wash  bank,  is  a  large 
sunken  area  which  may  have  been  the  town  square. 

The  Burgois  site  (Plates  xxvm,  xxix),  which  furnished  the 
principal  material  for  this  paper,  is  about  fourteen  miles  north¬ 
west  of  Bismarck,  on  the  east  bank  of  the  river.  It  is 
conspicuously  placed  on  the  summit  of  a  high  bluff  which  com¬ 
mands  a  fine  view  up  and  down  stream.  Above  the  site,  the 
Missouri  swings  in  a  wide  curve  known  as  Mountaineer  Bend, 
at  the  upper  end  of  which  is  situated  the  Larson  site  previously 
described.  Below,  the  river  spreads  into  a  maze  of  islands  and 
sand  bars.  It  seems  reasonable  that  this  village  may  be  iden¬ 
tified  with  the  one  described  by  Lewis  and  Clark  as  being  at 
the  head  of  a  large  island,  the  island  having  since  disintegrated. 

On  the  south,  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  outer 
limits  of  the  village  remains,  is  a  deep  ravine;  to  the  north  and 
east  there  is  a  gentle  slope  towards  the  level  prairie  land.  Below 
the  bluff,  stretch  the  bottom  lands,  partly  meadow-land  and 
partly  timbered  with  cotton-wood,  ash  and  diamond  willow. 

The  remains  extend  for  thirteen  hundred  feet  along  the 
edge  of  the  bluff  and  eight  hundred  feet  back.  They  comprise, 
first,  mounds  from  one  to  ten  feet  in  height;  second,  continuous 
ditches;  third,  circular,  slightly  sunken  house  rings;  fourth, 


150 


THE  MANDANS. 


small  sunken  areas  marking  old  cache  pits.  Map  iv  gives  a 
general  survey  of  the  village.  In  this  map  the  natural  con¬ 
figuration  of  the  land  is  represented  in  hachures,  while  the 
artificial  mounds  and  depressions  are  represented,  as  well  as 
the  simple  means  at  hand  would  permit,  by  contour  lines  with 
an  interval  of  two  feet. 

The  large  mounds  are  on  the  outside  of  the  village  site. 
The)'-  form  a  more  or  less  continuous  chain  of  earthworks,  out¬ 
side  of,  and  between  the  two  encircling  ditches.  If  Verendrye 
spoke  the  truth  in  regard  to  the  neatness  and  cleanness  of  the 
Mandan  villages,  these  large  mounds  could  not  well  have  been 
dump  heaps  as  some  investigators  appear  to  think.  A  more 
natural  dump  heap  is  located  along  the  bluff  front.  It  is  more 
reasonable  to  identify  them  with  the  earth  ramparts  and  bas¬ 
tions  which,  he  says,  were  wide  enough  to  allow  the  game  of 
Skohpe  to  be  played  upon  them.  Moreover,  there  is  a  strategic 
fitness  in  many  of  them  in  regard  to  shape  and  location.  Thus 
Mound  a  guards  admirably  the  approach  from  the  ravine  south 
of  the  village.  Two  crescent  mounds,  g  and  j,  would  be  strong¬ 
holds  in  defense  of  the  village.  Many  of  the  mounds,  for  in¬ 
stance  a  and  c,  have  wall-like  protuberances,  which  may  have 
been  extended  breastworks. 

The  mounds,  as  may  be  seen  by  the  map,  are  of  various 
shapes  and  sizes.  Mound  a,  the  largest,  is  nearly  a  perfect 
rectangle,  except  for  the  irregular  line  of  small  mounds  attached 
to  one  corner.  It  measures  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
feet  in  length,  and  is  about  eight  feet  high.  Most  of  the  larger 
mounds  are  of  approximately  the  same  height.  Two  mounds, 
g  and  /,  before  mentioned,  are  distinctly  crescent-shaped.  The 
other  large  mounds  are  either  oval  in  shape  or  are  irregular  with 
two  or  more  summits. 

The  smaller  mounds  are,  for  the  most  part,  between  the 
two  ditches.  They  are  irregular  in  shape,  and  range  from  a 
few  inches  in  height  to  three  or  four  feet.  A  few  low  mounds 
are  found  outside  the  circle  of  large  mounds. 

There  are  two  ditches.  The  inner  ditch,  y,  y,  y,  can  be 
traced  throughout  its  course,  but  the  outer  ditch,  z,  z,  z,  appears 
broken.  The  inner  ditch  encircles  an  area  about  five  hundred 


Map J1S  SITE. 

Contour  interval  is  two  feet.  Dotted  lintareas.  Hatchures  show  natural  configuration 


THE  MANDANS. 


151 


feet  in  diameter  which  is  devoid  of  any  large  mounds,  and  is 
marked  by  house  rings  and  cache  pits.  Between  the  inner 
and  outer  ditches  there  are,  in  addition  to  the  mounds,  a  few 
house  rings.  The  ditches,  in  their  deepest  portions,  are  not 
more  than  three  feet  deep,  though  they  were  originally  much 
deeper.  A  cross-section  of  the  ditch,  at  the  point  marked  u, 
shows  it  to  have  been  nine  feet  deep  and  twenty  feet  wide. 

The  house  sites  were  mostly  in  the  interior  of  the  village. 
They  are  marked  by  rings  each  with  a  slight  depression  in  the 
center.  After  the  prairie  grass  becomes  brown,  these  depres¬ 
sions  are  marked  by  green  patches.  The  house  rings  vary 
somewhat  in  size,  averaging  about  forty  feet  in  diameter.  They 
are  close  together,  but  are  sometimes  arranged  in  more  or  less 
regular  rows  leaving  what  may  roughly  be  termed  streets. 

Small  depressions  mark  the  location  of  old  caches.  These 
depressions  are  scattered  over  the  entire  area  both  inside  and 
outside  the  ditches.  Some  have  dropped  in  to  a  depth  of  two 
or  three  feet,  but  most  of  them  show  only  a  slight  hollow.  Fre¬ 
quently  they  occur  in  groups  of  three  or  four.  Investigation 
disclosed  the  presence  of  these  cache  pits  under  the  mounds  anti 
in  the  house  sites. 

Before  entering  upon  an  account  of  the  work  carried  on  at 
the  Burgois  site  an  attempt  will  be  made  to  correlate  the 
features  of  this  site  with  the  descriptions  of  the  villages  as  they 
were  actually  seen.  Verendrye  tells  us  of  the  village  surrounded 
by  a  piquet  eighteen  feet  high  and  a  ditch  fifteen  feet  deep  by 
eighteen  feet  across.  This  was  protected  by  bastions  and  ram¬ 
parts  covering  the  piquet.  We  have  the  ditch,  two  in  this  case, 
as  if  the  village  had  outgrown  its  original  bounds;  and  on  mak¬ 
ing  a  cross  section  of  the  ditch  it  was  found  to  be  nearly  as 
large  as  described.  Digging  on  the  inner  side  of  the  ditch 
showed  no  sign  of  the  piquet.  Catlin  tells  us,  however,  that  the 
piquet  was  only  outside.  The  large  surrounding  mounds  agree 
with  the  description  of  bastions  and  ramparts.  The  circles 
mark  the  sites  of  the  round  earth-houses,  and  the  small  depres¬ 
sions  show  where  the  caches  described  by  every  visitor  wrere 
located.  The  greatest  difficulty  was  identifying  the  large 
village  square  or  ceremonial  place.  Inside  the  first  ditch,  in 


152 


THE  MANDANS. 


the  very  center  of  the  village  is  an  area  of  about  the  right  size, 
but  it  is  broken  by  three  rings  which  appear  to  be  house  rings, 
one  larger  than  any  of  the  others.  Between  the  first  ditch  and 
the  second,  however,  there  is  a  large  open  space  of  the  proper 
dimensions  and  unmarred  by  any  rings  or  mounds  (x).  It 
answers  the  description  except  that  it  is  not  located  in  the 
center  of  the  village.  It  might  be  possible  that  the  first  place 
was  originally  the  public  square,  but  as  the  village  grew  beyond 
the  first  ditch  the  square  was  moved  to  a  better  site  and  the 
old  one  was  built  over.  Of  the  cemetery,  of  course  no  trace  is 
now  discoverable,  although  one  of  the  bundles  of  bones  was 
found  buried.  It  is  not  related  how  or  where  bones  taken  from 
the  scaffold  were  buried,  and  so  the  find  can  not  be  connected 
with  what  is  historically  described. 

Mounds: — The  first  work  (Work  1)  was  done  on  the  largest 
of  the  out-lying  mounds  (Map  iv,  Plates  xxvm,  xxix,  xxx). 
This  mound  is  about  a  hundred  and  twenty  feet  long  by 
sixty  or  seventy  wide.  It  slopes  up  gently  from  the  west 
end  for  about  thirty  feet,  then  runs  along  almost  flat  until 
within  ten  feet  of  the  other  end,  where  it  suddenly  drops  off. 
It  is  almost  rectangular  in  shape.  The  west  end  of  the 
mound  was  divided  off  into  squares  of  five  feet,  and  exca¬ 
vation  was  then  begun  along  the  entire  end,  and  carried 
into  the  mound,  preserving  at  all  times  a  vertical  face.  This 
mound  rested  on  a  solid  clay  hardpan,  from  which  the  sod 
seemed  to  have  been  cleared  before  building  the  mound. 
The  excavation  was  always  carried  a  little  below  this  hardpan 
level.  The  mound  seemed  to  be  built  of  refuse  spread  on  in  layers. 
Very  little  in  the  way  of  valuable  remains  was  found  on  the 
edge  of  the  mound,  small  fragments  of  pottery,  a  pocket  of 
rocks,  a  pocket  of  bone,  charcoal  and  pottery  and  two  or  three 
pockets  of  large  bones,  charcoal  and  pottery  chips  being  the 
only  things  noted.  These  pockets  all  began  about  one  foot 
below  the  surface  of  the  mound.  At  the  beginning  of  the  exca¬ 
vation,  from  the  surface  to  hardpan  the  depth  was  eight  to 
twelve  inches;  by  the  time  the  work  had  been  carried  in  fifteen 
feet  the  face  of  the  excavation  was  from  one  and  a  half  to  two 
and  a  half  feet  high.  At  about  the  six-foot  line  the  first  of  a 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


Vol.  Ill,  Pl.  XXVIII. 


I.  GENERAL  VIEW  OF  BURGOIS  VILLAGE  SITE. 


2.  MOUND  A,  BURGOIS  VILLAGE  SITE. 


(  '<V  iy^ 


■r  K^aU*** 


uMl"'1"^"  .««#»•' I*- **J*,„\ .»«  •**  i 


3-  DITCH  AND  HOUSE  RINGS,  BURGOIS  VILLAGE  SITE. 


inTVPF 


HflRTflN 


THE  MANDANS. 


153 


number  of  pits  was  found  (Plate  xxx,  b  on  ground  plan).  This 
one  was  about  four  feet  four  inches  deep  from  the  surface  of  the 
mound.  It  was  hollowed  out  in  a  bottle-like  shape  and  con¬ 
tained  a  quantity  of  broken  pottery  and  bones;  some  of  the 
pottery  fragments  fitted  together.  Over  its  top  was  a  small 
layer  of  decayed  wood  with  some  charcoal  and  a  few  kernels  of 
burnt  corn,  the  first  found.  Traces  of  decayed  grass  appeared 
on  the  sides.  Next  to  this  pit  was  a  shallow  basin  (Plate  xxx; 
con  ground  plan)  eighttotwelveinchesdeep,inthecenterof  which 
was  a  buffalo  skull  facing  to  the  north  and  surrounded  by  consider¬ 
able  pottery  and  bone  chips ;  over  the  basin  was  an  ash  layer. 
A  few  bone  implements  were  found  scattered  in  the  pit  and 
basin.  Nearly  half  a  bushel  of  broken  stones  came  from  the 
bottom  of  the  pit.  On  the  north  of  the  pit  ( b )  was  another 
(a),  about  the  same  size,  which  almost  joined  it.  In  the  upper 
part  of  this  second  pit  was  much  broken  pottery  and  bones, 
charcoal  and  occasionally  ashes.  At  the  very  bottom  of  it 
was  a  human  skeleton  in  a  flexed  position.  There  was  no 
pottery  and  no  remains  of  ornaments  about  the  body,  but  a  bone 
hoe  lay  above  it  and  another  was  below  it.  The  skeleton  lay 
on  a  brown  layer  which  may  originally  have  been  a  robe.  This 
pit  was  four  feet  six  inches  deep  from  the  surface  of  the  mound 
and  four  feet  two  inches  in  diameter.  It  was  of  the  usual  bottle 
shape.  A  cross  section  of  these  three  pits  is  shown  in  Plate  xxx, 
section  hi.  This  also  shows  the  ash  layer  which  extended  over 
the  pits.  Another  ash  layer  (Plate  xxx,  section  n)  began  just  over 
these  pits  about  six  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  mound  and 
contained  a  considerable  quantity  of  broken  pottery  and  bones. 
As  the  face  of  the  excavation  was  moved  back  this  layer  sank 
to  a  depth  of  one  foot  from  the  surface  and  became  continuous 
over  the  whole  of  the  mound.  Other  smaller  ash  layers  appeared 
lower  down  and  a  little  further  in. 

Another  pit  (Plate  xxx,  j  on  ground  plan)  began  at  twelve 
feet  in,  and  differed  considerably  from  the  rest.  It  did  not  have 
the  usual  shape  and  continued  back  into  the  mound,  covering 
a  much  greater  area  than  any  of  the  others.  It  was  filled 
with  refuse  in  which  were  easily  distinguishable  layers  of  burnt 
corn,  bone  chips,  and  charcoal.  Another  basin  ( g  on  ground  plan) 


154 


THE  MANDANS. 


also  occurred  in  this  part  of  the  digging  but  presented  no  distinctive 
feature,  being  filled  with  the  usual  refuse.  Most  of  the  best 
pottery  at  this  point  came  from  the  blanket  ash  layer.  At  the 
twenty-foot  line  another  pit  occurred  ( h ).  It  contained  ashes, 
bones,  charcoal,  burnt  wood  and  a  number  of  flint  and  bone 
implements,  both  broken  and  whole.  Near  the  bottom  was 
a  deposit  of  very  fine  bone  chips,  and  a  number  of  irregular 
layers  half  an  inch  thick  of  soft  black  clay,  resembling  the  clay 
of  the  pottery.  This  pit  was  shaped  much  like  the  others.  The 
ash  layer  here  was  about  one  foot  below  the  top  of  the  mound. 
At  this  point  there  was  also  a  light  layer  of  soft  earth  about 
four  inches  thick.  Below  this  for  some  two  inches  was  a  layer 
of  tightly  packed  earth,  and  the  pit  was  filled  with  a  conglomer¬ 
ate  mass  of  rubbish,  across  which  ran  thin  layers  of  crumbly 
red  earth,  burnt  grass  and  ashes.  The  dimensions  of  this 
pit  were :  diameter  six  feet,  depth  five  feet.  At  the  twenty-five- 
foot  line  three  connected  pits  were  discovered  ( l ,  m,  n)  over  the 
tops  of  two  of  which  stretched  a  layer  of  burnt  grass  and  sticks. 
Over  all  three  pits  the  blanket  ash  layer  dipped  to  about  two 
feet  below  the  surface  of  the  mound,  and  the  soft  soil  above 
contained  a  considerable  quantity  of  pottery  fragments  and 
bone  implements.  Just  before  reaching  these  pits  a  series  of 
four  post-holes  (p,  q,  r,  s),  running  for  about  fifteen  feet,  was 
found.  These  contained  the  remnants  of  rotten  wood  and  of 
sticks  about  two  inches  in  diameter.  Traces  of  these  post- 
holes  began  a  short  distance  from  the  surface  and  extended 
down  to  a  little  below  harclpan.  On  this  line  were  also  found 
two  small  cylindrical  pits.  One  (i)  about  one  foot  in  diameter, 
went  down  some  eighteen  inches  below  the  clay  hardpan  and 
contained  hard-packed,  black  earth  with  a  few  bones  and  pot¬ 
tery  chips.  The  other  was  somewhat  more  shallow  and  opened 
through  a  small  hole  into  one  of  the  large  pits  (n). 

Near  the  thirty-foot  line  the  front  of  a  human  skull 
was  found  in  a  layer  of  loose  earth  and  rubbish.  Just  beyond 
this  line  began  an  extremely  irregular  pit  (o)  containing  very 
few  pottery  fragments  but  a  great  many  large  bones,  some  of 
them  broken.  Among  these  was  an  antelope  skull.  At  the 
same  point  and  for  twenty  feet  across  the  center  of  the  mound 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


CROSS-SECTION  OF  MOUND  A,  BURGOIS  VILLAGE  SITE. 


THE  MANDANS. 


155 


was  a  heavy  layer  of  soft  ashy  earth  from  one  and  a  half  to  two 
and  a  half  feet  thick.  At  the  bottom  of  this  was  a  well-marked 
clay  layer;  below  this  again  came  some  loose  earth,  then  another 
ash  layer  and  lastly  the  clay  hardpan.  Thin  layers  of  burnt 
material,  marked  y,y,  on  Plate  xxx,  sect,  ix,  were  also  found. 
In  the  light  ash  layer  most  of  the  finds  were  made  within  two 
and  a  half  feet  of  the  surface.  Near  this  point  the  valuable 
material  began  to  decrease  in  quantity.  Pit  o  proved  to  be 
very  large.  It  went  down  to  a  depth  of  about  eight  feet  from 
the  surface  of  the  mound  and  was  some  six  to  seven  feet  in 
diameter.  Another  pit  ( k )  was  found  upon  this  line  which 
contained  very  little,  and  opened  into  the  large  pit  (j)  at  the 
south  end. 

Owing  to  the  fact  that  the  purpose  of  the  exploration  was 
to  get  a  general  idea  of  the  site,  it  was  thought  best  to  leave 
the  first  mound,  after  the  excavation  had  been  carried  in  some 
thirty-five  feet,  and  to  try  other  mounds  of  different  appearance. 
The  first  examined  was  a  small  oval  mound  (Map  iv,  k )  meas¬ 
uring  sixteen  by  twenty-five  feet,  and  not  over  one  and  a  half  feet 
high  at  its  highest  point  in  the  center.  Half  of  this  mound  was 
removed  down  to  the  clay  foundation,  but  practically  nothing, 
except  occasional  pottei’y  chips  and  one  stump  of  a  wooden 
post,  was  discovered. 

The  next  work  (Work  2)  was  on  one  of  the  large  mounds 
(Map  iv,  b)  abutting  on  the  ditch  on  the  inner  side.  It  is  rather 
more  circular  than  the  former  one,  about  eighty  feet  long,  sixty- 
five  feet  across,  and  eight  to  ten  feet  high,  being  somewhat 
higher  and  more  rounded  on  the  top  than  the  other  (a).  Through 
this  mound  at  about  the  center  a  trench  ten  feet  wide  was  cut 
entirely  across  from  east  to  west,  the  trench  was  divided  into 
rows  and  squares,  there  being  thirteen  rows  of  five  feet  each 
across  the  mound.  The  earth  was  soft  and  full  of  bones,  pottery 
chips,  and  burnt  vegetables.  This  mound  was  likewise  built 
on  the  yellow  clay  hardpan  from  which,  however,  the  sod  seems 
not  to  have  been  removed  except  over  parts  of  the  bottom 
where  there  were  pockets  or  pits. 

The  excavation  was  commenced  at  the  same  time  from 
each  end.  The  earth  of  the  mound  was  easily  removed  and 
was  full  of  refuse.  At  the  east  end  there  was  located,  in  the 


156 


THE  MANDANS. 


first  ten  feet,  a  large  depression  extending  over  the  whole  bot¬ 
tom  of  the  cut  and  going  below  hardpan  from  a  few  inches  to 
a  foot.  The  bottom  of  this  depression  was  covered  with  small 
boulders,  and  most  of  the  finds  in  that  section  were  made  just 
above  these  boulders,  the  first  good  hammer-head  being  dis¬ 
covered  there.  In  this  part  of  the  trench,  just  below  the  surface 
of  the  mound,  was  found  a  thick  layer  of  burnt  corn  cobs  and 
other  burnt  material.  As  further  progress  was  made,  from 
ton  to  fifteen  feet  in,  the  earth  was  full  of  bones  and  flint  chips 
with  a  number  of  bone  implements.  As  the  twenty-foot  line 
was  approached,  however,  the  bones  became  scarcer  and  nearly 
all  of  the  finds  consisted  of  pottery.  The  earth  from  the  surface 
to  the  bottom  contained  layers  (Plate  xxx,  sect,  i,  b,  c,  d,  e,  etc.) 
of  crushed  bone  or  burnt  materials  and  ashes,  usually  not  over 
three  inches  thick.  These  layers  persisted  through  the  whole 
mound  keeping  at  a  fairly  equal  distance  apart,  sloping  off  to 
the  north  and  south  as  the  mound  itself  sloped  off,  and  dipping 
rather  steeply  to  the  east.  From  the  twenty-foot,  to  the  thirty-foot 
line  nothing  unusual  was  seen,  though  the  best  pottery  was 
taken  out  there,  as  well  as  some  bone  implements  and  some 
charred  beans.  From  the  twenty-five-foot  to  the  thirty-foot  line 
a  considerable  quantity  of  good  pottery  fragments  came  to 
light,  a  number  of  which  fitted  together.  The  pottery  frag¬ 
ments  seemed  to  be  more  and  more  numerous  as  the  center  of 
the  mound  was  approached.  An  interesting  find,  in  this  sec¬ 
tion,  was  a  small  pocket  some  three  feet  from  the  surface  which 
contained  squash  and  sunflower  seeds  and  some  small  Chenopo- 
dium  seeds,  all  somewhat  charred.  The  section  from  the  thirty- 
foot  to  the  thirty-five-foot  line  contained  nothing  notable,  the 
pottery  and  bone  pieces  continuing  as  before,  but  in  somewhat 
smaller  quantities. 

From  the  thirty-five-foot  to  the  forty-foot  line,  the  finds  con¬ 
sisted  of  bone  implements,  awls  and  hoes.  In  this  section,  about 
two  and  a  half  feet  from  the  surface,  was  a  mass  of  very  white 
ashes,  about  one  foot  in  diameter  and  four  inches  thick.  At 
about  the  forty-foot  line  a  pit  was  found  (/),  about  seven  feet  in 
diameter  and  running  down  two  to  three  feet  below  the  old 
sod  level.  From  the  bottom  of  this  pit  again  a  small  pocket  went 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


S  zci-io  n 


THE  MANDANS. 


157 


down  into  the  yellow  clay;  this  smaller  pocket  was  of  rather 
irregular  shape  and  contained  nothing  of  value,  nor  did  the 
larger  pit  itself.  In  this  section,  above  the  pit  and  some 
three  to  four  feet  from  the  surface,  was  found  the  first  copper, 
a  crudely  made  copper  bead. 

The  section  from  forty  to  forty-five  feet  showed  nothing  of 
particular  interest  except  a  pocket  containing  about  a  quart 
of  flint  chips.  A  number  of  bone  implements  also  came  from 
this  section.  Here,  also,  was  found  a  small  ring  of  what  appeared 
to  be  twisted  bark.  The  surface  of  the  mound  for  the  remain¬ 
ing  fifteen  feet  was  sodded  over;  below  this  and  above  the  old 
sod  was  a  heap  of  hard  clay,  such  as  might  have  been  excavated 
from  pit  j.  Before  leaving  this  mound  a  word  or  two  more 
should  be  said  about  the  stratification  of  the  material  used  in 
its  construction.  The  mound  has  a  very  steep  slope  down  to 
the  ditch  on  the  east  side,  and  slopes  off  much  more  gently  on 
the  west.  The  layers  already  mentioned  run  upwards  from 
east  to  west,  beginning  near  hardpan,  and  occurring  at  almost 
equal  distances  apart.  Five  of  these  layers  were  of  burnt 
material  with  an  ash  layer  just  above  them  in  several  cases. 
In  two  places  just  above  the  ash  layer  was  a  thick  layer  of 
broken  bones.  These  layers  were  all  approximately  parallel 
and  between  them  was  the  light  earth  previously  mentioned. 
No  human  bones  whatever  were  found  in  this  mound,  but  all 
sorts  of  animal  bones  occurred  in  profusion. 

Cache  Pits: — -The  next  work  done  was  the  clearing  out  of 
three  caches  which  were  marked  by  three  small  sunken  places 
rather  close  together,  Works  4, 5,  and  6  (marked  o  on  Map  iv,and 
shown  in  more  detail  in  Plate  xxxi.)  One  of  these,  Work  6, 
proved  of  very  little  interest.  It  went  down  to  a  depth  of 
five  feet  nine  inches  where  a  hard,  undisturbed  clay  was 
encountered.  The  pit  itself  was  filled  with  soft  earth  contain¬ 
ing  small  bits  of  bone,  stone  and  pottery.  In  the  hard  clay 
bottom  were  several  small  pockets,  one  of  which  contained 
a  ball  of  black  clay  evidently  the  sort  used  for  making  pottery. 

Work  4  was  more  interesting.  At  a  depth  of  three  feet,  two 
large  pockets  filled  with  ashes,  charcoal  and  earth  mixed,  were 
found  branching  off  from  the  main  pit  which  was  lined  with  a 


158 


THE  M  AND  A  NS. 


light  yellow  clay.  From  this  excavation  came  many  bones 
and  stones,  a  good  deal  of  chipped  flint  and  some  large  jmttery 
fragments  and  broken  implements,  and  a  fragment  of  a  catli- 
nite  pipe.  The  two  large  pockets  were  excavated  and  finally 
resolved  themselves  into  two  pits,  giving  a  series  of  three 
pits,  each  joined  with  the  other.  The  general  depth  of  the  three 
was  about  six  feet.  In  these  pits  there  were  many  boulders 
and  much  ashes  and  burnt  grass.  Work  5  was  another  pit 
of  the  same  sort,  and  it,  too,  had  a  connecting  passage  with 
a  side  pit,  somewhat  shallower  than  the  main  one.  These  two 
pits  resembled  the  others  in  every  way  except  that  they  were 
slightly  smaller.  In  this  Work,  however,  there  was  found  a 
number  of  rather  important  articles.  Among  these  were  some 
excellently  made  awls  of  bone,  some  well-made  flint  implements, 
a  number  of  large  pieces  of  pottery  many  of  which  fitted  together, 
and  the  best  piece  of  worked  bone  found  during  the  explora¬ 
tion.  This  is  a  highly  polished  implement  with  a  crane’s  head 
carved  on  one  end  (Fig.  11). 

House  Sites:  —  The  next  work  (Work  7)  was  the  partial 
excavation  of  one  of  the  large  circular  depressions,  (Map  iv,  p) 
presumably  house  sites.  A  trench  was  made  across  the  hollow, 
a  little  to  one  side  of  the  center.  From  the  middle  of  this  trench 
the  excavation  was  carried  in  towards  the  center  of  the  circle, 
as  shown  in  Plate  xxxi.  The  original  trench  went  down  to  a 
depth  of  about  two  feet  where  a  solid  cl  a  3’  hardpan  was 
struck.  A  few  ash  layers  crossed  the  trench,  and  in  two 
places  posts  and  a  series  of  small  sticks  were  found.  The 
excavation  toward  the  center  uncovered  a  large  bed  of  white 
ashes,  under  which  was  a  bed  of  red  ashes.  At  about  the 
center  of  the  circle  was  a  mass  of  rounded  stones.  One  of 
these,  almost  a  perfect  oval,  was  about  one  foot  long  by  seven 
inches  in  diameter,  and  had  been  pecked  into  shape.  It  is 
possible  that  this  was  one  of  the  stones  used  in  shaping 
pottery.  The  average  depth  of  the  cl  a  3-  hardpan  was  about 
two  feet,  over  the  area  excavated.  A  number  of  smaller  sepa¬ 
rated  ash  layers  were  noted  a  little  beyond  the  center,  and  still 
further  on,  near  the  other  side,  was  a  depression  which  proved 
to  be  a  cache  or  pit.  This  was  cleared  out  and  showed  the 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  I’L.  XXXI. 


HOUSE  SITES  AND  CACHES. 


THE  MANDANS. 


159 


usual  bottle-like  shape.  The  remnants  of  posts  of  considerable 
size  were  found,  and  their  location  is  noted  on  Plate  xxxi. 
The  pit  contained  a  good  deal  of  broken  pottery,  worked  stone 
and  bone,  and  the  remains  of  corn,  beans  and  squash  seeds. 
The  best  piece  of  pottery  was  found  here.  It  was  in  fragments, 
which  formed,  when  put  together,  about  one  quarter  of  a  large 
pot  (Plate  xxxvii,  fig.  b). 

The  next  work  (Work  8)  was  the  partial  excavation  of 
another  and  better-marked  house  site,  shown  in  detail  in  Plate 
xxxi.  A  trench  was  first,  laid  out  along  the  outside  bank  on  the 
west  side  for  a  distance  of  forty-five  feet.  This  was  divided  into 
nine  squares  of  five  feet  each  from  the  south  to  the  north.  For 
the  first  seven  feet  a  hardpan  of  clay  was  found  at  a  depth  of  two 
feet.  The  next  five  feet  contained  a  rather  irregular  pit  which 
was  filled  with  soft  earth  cut  by  several  ash  layers.  One  of  these 
layers  occurred  at  a  depth  of  two  feet,  another  at  four  feet  and  a 
third  at  six  feet.  The  soft  earth  contained  a  great  many  animal 
bones,  but  very  few  that  had  been  worked.  This  pit  went  down 
to  a  depth  of  seven  feet,  but  showed  nothing  unusual  either  in  its 
construction  or  contents.  For  some  three  feet  beyond  this  the 
solid  clay  continued  and  then  the  base  of  a  large  post  was  found. 
Immediately  beyond  the  post  another  pit  occurred.  This  pit 
was  shallow  and  contained  nothing  except  a  fairly  thick  layer 
of  decayed  grass.  At  the  upper  edge  of  this  pit  was  another 
post,  and  immediately  adjoining  came  another  pit.  This  one 
was  about  four  feet  four  inches  deep  and  five  feet  across.  It 
contained  a  large  quantity  of  small  bones  and  many  large  ones. 
Two  ash  layers  cut  this  pit  diagonally,  one  at  about  three  feet 
down  and  another  at  four  feet.  Just  above  one  of  these  ash 
layers  was  a  layer  of  small  broken  bones.  For  the  next  four 
feet  of  the  trench  the  clay  hardpan  continued,  but  over  the  first 
two  feet  of  this  clay  was  a  layer  of  flat  stones.  After  the  clay 
section  came  another  pit  of  larger  size  than  the  others.  This 
pit  contained  the  usual  soft  earth,  through  which  ran  two  layers 
of  burnt  material  containing  charred  seed,  corn,  beans,  and 
squashes,  mostly  too  much  burnt  to  preserve,  though  the 
stem  end  of  a  squash  was  found  in  fairly  good  condition. 
The  whole  pit  held  considerable  quantities  of  charred  matter 


160 


THE  MANDANS. 


and  a  few  pieces  of  chipped  stone,  some  burnt  clay,  and  a  few 
burnt  bones.  The  depth  of  this  pit  was  about  six  feet,  five 
inches,  and  the  diameter  was  nearly  seven  feet.  Just  above 
it,  on  hardpan  level,  the  second  piece  of  copper,  a  small  flat 
fragment  apparently  cut  from  a  larger  one,  was  found.  On 
the  east  side  of  this  pit  three  large  posts  occurred.  For  the 
next  five  feet  the  clay  continued  unbroken.  Then  another 
post  was  found,  and  at  five  feet  beyond  this  still  another  post 
was  discovered. 

From  the  end  of  this  trench  another  was  started  at  right 
angles  running  east,  still  along  the  ridge  about  the  depression, 
in  the  first  five  feet  of  this  trench  were  found  four  posts  (Plate 
xxxi).  On  the  inner  side  of  the  ridge  here,  almost  in  the 
depression,  was  found  another  pit.  This  had  probably  been 
filled  up  by  the  falling  roof,  for  the  contents  had  settled  away 
from  the  sides  leaving  a  large  hollow  space  and  showing  well 
the  bottle-like  appearance  of  the  pit  itself.  This  pit  went  down 
to  a  depth  of  over  eight  feet,  and  was  the  most  symmetrical 
one  found.  The  contents  consisted  of  earth  with  small  bits  of 
rubbish  scattered  through  it,  just  such  material  as  might  have 
fallen  into  it  from  the  roof  and  sides.  At  eighteen  feet  further 
on  a  post  was  found,  and  in  the  near  neighborhood  was  another 
pit  which  presented  no  unusual  features. 

Another  trench  was  dug,  connecting  the  ends  of  the  other 
two  and  running  across  near  the  center  of  the  depression.  No 
pits  were  found  in  this  trench,  but  at  about  the  fifteen-foot 
line  was  found  the  base  of  a  large  post,  one  foot  in  diameter, 
which  was  hewn  square.  At  the  thirty-foot  line  was  found 
the  remains  of  a  fireplace.  It  was  depressed  below  the  clay 
hardpan  and  was  surrounded  by  a  wall  of  stones,  which  was 
rather  irregular,  perhaps  due  to  later  disturbances.  The  diam¬ 
eter  was  about  six  feet  and  the  area  within  the  stones  was 
filled  with  a  thick  layer  of  ashes.  Near  the  stones  were  found 
portions  of  two  broken  stone  implements,  one  the  half  of  a 
large  maul,  the  other  t  he  half  of  a  stone  axe. 

Besides  the  posts  mentioned,  a  number  of  smaller  ones  were 
found,  some  lying  diagonally  in  the  ground  (shown  in  Plate  xxxi, 
with  arrows  pointing  in  the  direction  in  which  they  lay) 


THE  MANDANS. 


161 


as  if  broken  off.  A  number  of  small  flat  pieces  of  wood  were 
found  near  the  outer  edge  of  the  excavation,  possibly  pieces  of 
the  slabs,  and  through  most  of  the  earth  removed  small  bits  of 
sticks  one  half  to  one  inch  thick  were  scattered.  These  may 
have  been  part  of  the  willow  matting  with  which  the  roof  was 
usually  covered.  The  pits,  in  all  cases  but  one,  were  solidly 
filled  in  and  had  a  clay  layer  over  them,  and  it  is  probable  that 
they  had  been  filled  up  before  the  house  was  built.  Henry 
tells  us  that  houses  were  constantly  being  torn  down  and  built 
again  in  new  places.  The  one  pit  which,  when  found,  was  not 
completely  filled,  probably  existed  at  the  same  time  as  the 
house.  Morgan1  in  his  description  of  the  house  site  mentions 
the  existence  of  such  caches  within  the  house,  and  shows  it  in 
the  diagram  reproduced  on  page  107. 

The  dump  heap  along  the  bluff  side  was  investigated  at  the 
points  r,  s,  and  t,  as  marked  on  Map  iv.  Excavations  were 
made  in  four  places  and  if  was  found  that  the  deposit  of  rubbish 
and  ashes  went  down  to  an  average  depth  of  about  three  and 
a  half  feet.  Nothing  unusual  was  found  here,  the  finds  being 
mostly  broken  pottery,  and  broken  stone  and  bone  implements. 

After  this  a  cross-section  was  made  of  the  ditch  in  the  deepest 
place  at  the  point  u,  on  Map  iv.  The  original  ditch  was  about 
nine  feet  deep  with  a  flat  bottom.  The  distance  from  side  to  side 
was  about  twenty  feet.  The  depth  from  the  bottom  of  the  present 
ditch,  at  the  center,  to  the  original  bottom  was  six  feet.  For 
about  two  feet  above  the  bottom  of  the  original  ditch  there  was 
a  layer  of  sand  and  just  above  this  was  a  black  layer  about  six 
inches  thick  which  contained  considerable  charred  matter. 
Above  this  layer  was  a  considerable  deposit  of  animal  bones, 
mostly  of  buffalo.  The  remainder  of  the  distance  to  the  sur¬ 
face  was  filled  in  with  ordinary  earth  containing  occasional  bits 
of  broken  bone  and  pottery. 

A  cross-section  of  the  ridge  on  the  inner  side  of  the  ditch 
was  next  made  at  the  point  v.  The  depth  to  the  original  sur¬ 
face  was  a  trifle  over  three  and  a  half  feet,  and  the  earth  was  full 
of  refuse,  but  no  trace  of  palisades  was  found  here. 

1  L.  H.  Morgan  :  Stone  and  Bone  Implements  of  the  Arickarees,  21st  Ann.  Hep.  of 
the  Univ.  of  State  of  N.  Y.,  on  the  State  Cabinet  of  Nat.  Hist. 


162 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  last  work  was  done  on  one  of  the  low  mounds  beyond 
the  outside  ditch  (Map  iv,  /).  The  height  of  this  one  was  not 
over  one  foot  at  the  center  and  its  diameter  was  about  thirty 
feet.  A  trench  was  run  across  the  mound  from  south  to  north 
cutting  it  at  the  center.  The  earth  of  which  the  mound  was 
constructed  was  soft  and  full  of  bone  fragments  below  the  sod. 
For  the  first  ten  feet  of  the  trench  this  soft  earth  went  down 
to  a  depth  of  from  eight  inches  to  one  foot  where  the  line  of 
old  sod  was  reached.  Fifteen  feet  from  the  south  end  of  the 
trench  there  was  a  pile  of  human  bones  indicating  a  burial 
according  to  the  Mandan  method.  This  was  only  about  ten  or 
twelve  inches  below  the  surface  of  the  mound.  The  bones 
were  in  a  compact  bundle,  several  of  them  had  ends  broken 
off,  and  some  of  the  small  ones,  as  well  as  the  skull,  were  missing. 
Under  one  corner  of  this  skeleton  was  part  of  a  child’s  skeleton, 
in  very  poor  condition,  the  skull  being  in  pieces,  and  many  of 
the  bones  missing.  Over  the  two  skeletons  there  was  a  thin 
layer  of  brown  material  resembling  decayed  wood.  In  the 
earth  about  these  human  remains  was  a  considerable  amount 
of  animal  bones,  and  immediately  below  was  a  very  large  pit. 

This  pit  was  not  of  the  usual  shape.  At  its  edge  twelve 
feet  from  the  beginning  of  the  trench  it  was  eight  feet  deep; 
under  the  skeleton  the  depth  decreased  to  five  feet  three  inches, 
and  at  the  eighteen  foot  line  it  was  four  feet  six  inches  deep. 
The  trench  was  not  excavated  beyond  this  point,  but  from  the 
angle  of  the  slope  the  pit  would  seem  to  have  been  from  four¬ 
teen  to  eighteen  feet  in  diameter.  The  earth  in  the  pit  con¬ 
tained  a  large  quantity  of  refuse,  bones  and  bone  implements 
and  ashes.  There  was  a  distinct  ash  layer  at  about  two  feet 
below  the  surface.  A  large  quantity  of  pottery  fragments 
occurred  in  the  pit  and  a  number  of  large  and  very  well-made 
pieces  were  found. 

Two  other  low  mounds  (m  and  n)  were  investigated  but 
nothing  of  any  value  was  found  in  them. 

Time  prevented  any  further  work  on  the  site  and  much 
was  left  which  should  have  been  done.  However,  a  fairly 
accurate  idea  was  obtained  of  the  whole  site.  Two  of  the 
larger  mounds  were  excavated  sufficiently  to  show  their  con- 


Peabody  Museum  Papers.  Vol.  Ill,  Pi.  XXXII 


THE  MANDANS. 


163 


struction,  and  two  of  the  large  depressions  were  partly  explored 
and  established  as  house  sites.  A  number  of  cache  pits  were 
cleared.  The  size  of  the  ditch  was  ascertained  and  work  was 
done  on  all  the  types  of  remains  within  the  ditch.  The  smaller 
type  of  mound  was  also  investigated,  as  well  as  the  dump  heap 
along  the  bluff.  The  only  thing  which  was  not  located  was  the 
palisade  described  as  on  the  outer  side  of  the  ditch. 

Stone  :  —  Stone  was  used  by  the  inhabitants  of  this  old 
village  as  material  for  many  articles,  large  and  small.  The 
larger  stone  objects  comprised  hammers,  axes,  celts,  discoidal 
mullers,  and  large  elliptical  chipped  blades.  The  smaller  speci¬ 
mens  may  be  classed  under  knives,  arrowheads  and  spearheads, 
scrapers,  chippers,  and  decorated  stones  of  uncertain  use.  Some 
of  the  implements  probably  had  other  uses  than  those  sug¬ 
gested  by  this  list. 

Although  feAv  large  stone  pieces  were  found,  the  variety 
was  considerable.  Plate  xxxn,  fig.  b,  represents  the  lower  por¬ 
tion  of  a  heavy  granite  maul.  It  is  in  a  crumbly  state  owing 
to  the  action  of  fire.  The  groove  is  narrow  but  well  marked, 
and  is  without  any  protruding  rim  or  flange.  The  striking 
surface  is  flat  and  somewhat  elliptical  in  shape,  measuring  four 
inches  in  its  longest  diameter. 

Plate  xxxii,  fig.  a,  shows  a  hammer  of  red  quartzite.  This 
implement,  made  from  a  stream-worn  stone  which  did  not  re¬ 
quire  much  shaping,  is  divided  into  two  nearly  equal  parts  by 
a  well-made  pecked  groove.  This  hammer  was  found  in  a 
boulder  layer  on  hardpan  at  the  east  end  of  Work  2. 

One  crudely  made  grooved  axe  was  found,  the  material 
being  a  hard  greenstone,  probably  diorite.  The  two  edges  were 
roughly  chipped  into  shape  and  the  wide,  shallow  groove  about 
the  middle  was  made  by  grinding  or  pecking. 

Two  axes,  showing  much  finer  workmanship,  are  without 
grooves,  and  belong  to  the  class  known  as  celts.  These  are 
shown  in  Plate  xxxii,  figs,  c  and  d.  They  are  made  of  pecked  and 
polished  diorite  and  are  bilaterally  symmetrical. 

Four  discoidal  stones  were  unearthed.  Two  of  these  were 
in  perfect  condition  and  are  shown  in  Plate  xxxii,  figs.  /  and  g,  the 
other  two  were  broken.  These  discoidal  stones  are  of  granite 


164 


THE  MANDANS. 


or  quartzite,  well  shaped,  and  measuring  from  an  inch  to  an 
inch  and  a  half  in  thickness,  and  from  an  inch  and  a  half  to 
three  inches  in  diameter.  Most  of  the  signs  of  grinding  and 
wear  are  shown  on  the  circumference.  One  shows  discolora¬ 
tion  on  both  of  the  faces.  The  use  of  these  stones  is  problem¬ 
atical.  They  may  have  been  used  as  mullers  to  grind  paint,  as 
the  discoloration  on  one  of  them  suggests,  or  they  may  have 
been  used  in  some  game.  They  resemble  the  Chungkee  stone 
of  the  Southern  tribes.  In  the  Mandan  game  of  Skohpe,  stones 
described  as  “rings”  were  used. 

The  large  chipped  blade  forms  were  probably  put  to  a 
variety  of  uses.  Some  may  have  been  used  for  lanceheads  and 
some  for  spikes  to  be  inset  in  war  clubs.  The  largest  of  these 
blades isshown in  Plate xxxm,  fig.  e.  Itmeasuresaboutsixinches 
in  length  and  is  made  of  a  gray  chert  or  fine  grained  argillite. 
Shorter  blades  of  the  same  material  are  shown  in  Plate  xxxm, 
figs,  a,  6,  d ,  /.  These  are  all  roughly  chipped,  and  do  not  present 
much  of  a  cutting  edge.  Figs,  g  to  k  illustrate  various  forms 
of  other  large  blades. 

The  characteristic  forms  of  the  smaller  implements  are  shown 
in  Plate  xxxiv.  The  knives  (Figs,  a,  g  to  k )  show  a  variety  of 
shapes.  They  average  about  three  and  a  half  inches  in  length 
and  about  five  eights  of  an  inch  in  width.  Some  are  double 
pointed,  and  some  are  squared  off  at  one  end.  Some  are  sym¬ 
metrical  in  outline  and  others  are  not.  The  material  commonly 
used  is  a  fine  grained  gray  quartzite,  but  sometimes  specimens 
made  from  dark  colored  flints  are  met  with.  Many  knives 
were  found  in  the  mounds  and  in  the  cache  pits. 

It  is  impossible  to  draw  any  definite  line  between  the  differ¬ 
ent  classes  of  small  implements.  Thus,  what  are  termed  spear¬ 
heads  may  have  been  used  for  knives,  and  vice  versa.  Arrow¬ 
heads  differ  from  spearheads  only  in  size,  the  former  seldom 
being  over  one  and  a  half  inches  in  length.  A  fine  leaf-shaped 
spearhead  is  shown  in  Plate  xxxiv,  fig.  d.  It  is  made  of 
brownish  flint.  A  wide-stemmed,  elliptical  one  of  the  same 
material  is  shown  in  Fig.  r,  while  Fig.  o  shows  a  perforator. 

Arrowheads  of  most  of  the  common  shapes  were  found, 
although  they  were  not  very  abundant.  The  material  used 


LARGE  CHIPPED  BLADES.  * 


Peabody  Museum  Papers 


VOL.  Ill,  PL.  XXXIV. 


SMALL  STONE  OBJECTS:  KNIVES,  PERFORATORS,  SCRAPERS,  SPEARHEADS, 
AND  ARROWHEADS,  f 


THE  MANDANS. 


165 


for  arrowheads  was  largely  flint.  A  selection  of  the  different 
types  is  shown  in  Plate  xxxiv,  figs,  b,  c,  m,  n,  p,  q  and  s. 

Flint,  chert,  and  quartzite  scrapers  were  in  great  abundance. 
Some  were  of  the  “turtle  back”  form  (Plate  xxxiv,  fig.  1),  flat 
on  one  side  and  convex  on  the  other.  Some  were  irregular  flakes 
with  one  chipped  edge  (Plate  xxxm,  fig.c).  Some  were  roughly 
rectangular  in  shape  (Plate  xxxiv,  figs,  e  and  /),  while  others 
were  leaf-shaped  (Plate  xxxm,  fig.  h). 

Flint  chips  were  often  found  in  layers  and  pockets.  Near 
the  bottom  of  the  central  cache  pit  in  Work  5,  an  extensive 
layer  of  red  and  yellow  flint  chips  was  encountered.  Double 
handfuls  of  flint  and  chert  chips  were  found  in  various  places 
in  the  mounds. 

Pieces  of  pumice-stone  were  often  met  with  in  the  different 
village  sites.  They  were  used,  apparently,  as  whetstones  to 
sharpen  bone  awls,  and  are  sometimes  deeply  grooved  as  a 
result  of  such  grinding.  Other  stones  were  also  used  for  this 
purpose. 

Plate  xxxii,  fig.  e,  shows  a  rasp  for  smoothing  arrowshafts. 
It  is  made  of  a  coarse  yellow  sandstone.  It  is  very  similar  to 
rasps  found  among  the  Omaha. 

Pebbles  showing  at  the  ends  an  abraded  surface  were  com¬ 
mon  objects  in  the  mounds  and  cache  pits.  These  were  chip¬ 
ping  stones  and  were  used  in  working  flint  and  chert.  They 
were  of  various  kinds  of  stone,  red  jasper,  diorite,  quartzite  and 
sandstone  being  noted. 

Water-worn  boulders,  seldom  over  six  inches  in  diameter, 
were  common  in  all  parts  of  the  site.  They  were  such  as  could 
be  picked  up  on  the  prairie  or  buttes.  Layers  of  boulders 
were  found  around  the  fireplaces  in  the  two  house  sites  ex¬ 
plored.  An  extensive  layer  was  found  on  hardpan  in  the  east¬ 
ern  end  of  Work  2. 

Some  of  these  boulders  gave  evidence  of  having  been  broken. 
One  showed  signs  of  pecking.  This  one  was  oval  in  shape,  and 
may  have  been  used  in  shaping  the  bottoms  of  pots. 

There  still  remains  for  consideration  a  class  of  ornamented 
stone  objects  of  uncertain  use.  Three  rectangular  flat  stones 
come  under  this  head.  All  of  these  stones  have  diagonal  cross 


166 


THE  MANDANS. 


markings  on  one  side.  The  largest  is  shown  in  Fig.  4,  a.  It  is 
about  two  inches  in  width  by  two  and  a  half  in  length,  and  a 
quarter  of  an  inch  in  thickness.  One  face  is  smooth,  and  the 
other  is  marked  by  double  diagonal  lines  which  pass  through 


an  indentation  in  the  center.  Each  edge  has  three  notches. 
Fig.  4,  b,  shows  a  similar  stone  object,  smaller,  and  somewhat 
longer  in  proportion.  It  is  made  of  catlinite.  This  has  also 
three  notches  on  each  edge,  but  the  diagonal  lines  are  triple, 
though  not  so  definite,  nor  so  deeply  incised.  Fig.  4,  c,  shows 
a  cruder  stone  object  of  the  same  general  character  as  the  two 
above  described.  The  material  is  a  yellow  clay-stone.  The 
stone  is  rudely  shaped  and  marked.  It  has  no  notches  on  the 
edge.  On  one  face  is  a  diagonal  marking,  and  on  the  other  a 
series  of  lines,  some  of  which  cross  a  line  running  lengthwise 
of  the  stone. 

The  stones  may  have  been  used  as  counters  in  some  sort  of 
game.  Somewhat  similar  articles  of  bone  were  found,  one  of 
which  is  shown  in  Plate  xxxvi,  fig.  r. 

A  small  piece  of  the  tubular  base  of  a  pipe  of  catlinite  was 
uncovered  in  the  refuse,  near  the  bottom  of  the  central  cache- 
pit  in  Work  5. 

Besides  the  worked  stone  and  boulders,  various  mineral 
paints  and  colored  earths  were  found.  Lumps  of  fine  yellow 
clay,  which  may  well  have  been  used  for  paint,  were  collected 
in  the  mounds.  Small  quantities  of  red  paint  were  found  in 
loose  lumps  and  adhering  to  fragments  of  pottery.  Pieces  of 
mica-schist,  deeply  tinged  with  iron,  may  have  been  ground 
up  into  brown  paint. 


THE  MANDANS. 


167 


Potter’s  clay  was  commonly  met  with  in  small  quantities. 
It  was  almost  black,  and  very  fine  grained.  Sometimes  the 
clay  was  found  pure,  and  sometimes  it  had  already  been  mixed 
with  coarse  sand,  made  by  burning  and  pulverizing  granite. 

Shell:  —  The  shell  remains  in  this  village  site  were  scanty. 
No  layers  or  heaps  of  shells  were  found  in  any  of  the  excavations, 
and  none  were  in  evidence  in  the  dump.  Thus  it  is  to  be  pre¬ 
sumed  that  shell-fish  were  comparatively  little  used  for  food.  A 


few  snail  shells  were  found  in  the  mounds,  and  a  few  shells  of 
the  fresh  water  mussel,  or  Unio,  were  found  scattered  widely 
among  the  refuse  in  the  mounds,  caches  and  house  rings.  Some 
of  the  latter  were  also  found  in  a  house  ring  at  the  Ward  site. 

The  Unio  shells  furnished  easily  worked  material  for  useful 
and  ornamental  objects,  and  it  is  somewhat  strange  that  more 
of  these  were  not  found.  Fig.  5,  a,  shows  an  implement  made 
by  pointing  one  end  of  a  unio  shell.  An  implement  very  similar 
to  this  is  said1  to  have  been  used  in  smoothing  and  shaping 
pottery. 

1  Notes  on  Canadian  Pottery  by  F.  W.  Waugh:  13th  Archaeological  Report  of  the 
Minister  of  Education,  Ontario. 


168 


THE  MANDANS. 


In  excavating  the  house  site,  Work  9,  a  disc-shaped  shell 
gorget  (Fig.  5,  c),  perforated  in  the  center  and  incised  around 
the  rim  with  radiating  lines,  was  found.  A  smaller  piece  of 
unio  shell  (Fig.  5,  e),  cut  in  the  shape  of  a  rectangle  and  polished, 
may  have  been  used  as  an  ornament.  Only  two  shell  beads 
were  found.  One  was  made  from  a  Unio  shell  and  was  disc- 
shaped  and  about  half  an  inch  in  diameter  (Fig.  b).  The  second 
was  a  pierced  shell  of  the  Oliva  literata  (Fig.  d),  This  latter  shell 
is  an  Atlantic  seaboard  variety,  found  south  of  Cape  Hatteras. 
It.  was  probably  brought  up  the  Mississippi  in  the  course  of  trade, 
being  commonly  found  in  the  mounds  of  the  Ohio  and  Missis¬ 
sippi  valleys. 

Copper: — Only  two  pieces  of  copper  were  found, one  a  bead 
about  a  half  inch  in  length,  and  the  other  an  irregular  piece  of 
sheet  copper  with  a  surface  of  less  than  a  square  inch. 

Bone: — Bone  implements  were  found  in  quantity,  distrib¬ 
uted  through  all  the  remains  that  were  examined.  The  bone 
articles  found  may  be  grouped  under  two  heads,  utilitarian  and 
ornamental.  The  first  comprises  hoes,  edged  implements, 
grainers,  arrow-straighteners,  scrapers,  digging  sticks,  awls, 
needles  anil  fish-hooks,  besides  other  articles  of  uncertain  use. 
The  second  group  contains  gorgets,  beads,  buckles,  bracelets, 
and  certain  finely  made  bone  objects,  which  may  have  had  a 
ceremonial  use. 

Hoes,  broken  and  entire,  were  often  met  with.  For  these 
the  shoulder  blade  of  the  buffalo  and  elk  was  used,  the  spine 
being  cut  away  and  the  lower  edge  of  the  blade  trimmed.  The 
socket  end  of  the  blade  shows  no  signs  of  wear  in  any  of  the 
specimens.  This  may  be  because  it  was  protected  by  the  thongs 
which  bound  it  to  the  handle. 

Smaller  implements,  made  from  part  of  a  buffalo  horn,  were 
found  here  and  there.  Most  of  these  were  polished  by  much 
use,  the  base  of  the  horn  being  worn  down  to  a  cutting  edge. 
Fig.  6  represents  one  which  has  acquired  a  high  polish  from 
use.  One  of  these  implements  was  found  in  the  middle 
stage  of  manufacture;  in  it  the  horn  is  roughly  trimmed,  as  with 


THE  MANDANS. 


169 


an  axe,  and  part  of  the  frontal  bone  of  the  skull  is  still  attached 
to  the  base  of  the  horn.  These  horn  tools  may  have  been  used 
for  scrapers,  trowels,  or  for  general  purposes  in  the  kitchen. 


Several  gouges  or  grainers  were  uncovered.  They  were 
made  from  the  metapodial  bones  of  the  buffalo,  and  show  good 


Fig.  7.  GOUGES  OR  GRAINERS.  4 

workmanship.  Some  of  them  (Fig.  7,  a  and  b)  have  a  smooth 
scraping  edge,  while  others  (Fig.  7,  c  and  d )  have  a  notched  edge. 


170 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  socket  end  of  Fig.  7,  a,  the  only  perfect  specimen,  was  proba¬ 
bly  covered  with  a  pad,  as  the  bone  is  rough,  untrimmed,  and 
shows  no  signs  of  wear.  These  gouge-like  tools  were  probably 
used  to  scrape  down  skins  in  the  process  of  graining. 

So-called  “  arrow-straighteners  ”  were  found  in  considerable 
numbers  in  the  mounds.  These  are  of  buffalo  rib  bones  through 
which  from  one  to  three  holes  have  been  bored.  The  holes  are 
sometimes  almost  round,  but,  more  usually,  are  elongated  along 
the  axis  of  the  bone.  The  bore  is  doubly  funnel-shaped  expand¬ 
ing' toward  both  surfaces  of  the  bone  (Fig.  8).  The  use  of  these 
objects  is  problematical.  It  seems  illogical  to  consider  them 


Fig.  8.  ARROW-oiiwUGHTENERS.  i 


wrenches  to  straighten  arrowshafts,  because  in  this  operation 
only  one  hole  could  be  used  at  a  time,  and  additional  holes  would 
only  weaken  the  instrument.  Since  the  holes  in  each  piece  are 
all  the  same  size,  they  could  not  have  been  intended  for  arrow- 
shafts  of  different  sizes.  However,  beyond  the  possible  use  as 
arrow-straighteners,  no  use  has  been  suggested  for  them. 

Certain  crude  bone  tools,  worn  on  one  or  more  edges,  may  be 
grouped  as  scrapers.  Most  of  these  are  made  of  broken  bones 
of  the  buffalo,  in  particular  the  shoulder  blades  and  the  larger 
leg  bones.  They  evidently  had  only  a  temporary  use. 

“Digging  sticks,”  as  they  have  been  called  for  want  of  a  better 
name,  were  found  in  great  numbers.  These  are  made  of  the 
rib  bones  of  the  buffalo  and  elk,  which  have  been  worn  off 
round  at  one  or  both  ends  (Plate  xxxv,  fig.  a). 

By  far  the  most  common  of  worked  bone  objects  found, 
fall  under  the  head  of  awls.  These  were  found  in  all  the  exca- 


Peabody  Museum  Papers.  Vol.  Ill,  Pl.  XXXV. 


SMALL  BONE  IMPLEMENTS. 


THE  MANDANS. 


171 


vations  and  in  all  the  village  sites  visited.  They  have  a  wide 
range  in  size  and  shape;  a  series  of  typical  examples  is  given  in 
Plate  xxxv.  The  needlesarerepresentedinthisplatebyFigs.fc,c, 
and  d.  The  first  of  these  is  round  and  very  sharp,  the  other 
two  are  flat  pieces  of  slivered  bird  bone.  The  larger  awls  are 
made  in  various  shapes  from  various  bones.  Figs,  e,  /,  and  h 
are  of  bird  bones.  Figs,  g,  j,  l,  n,  o  and  p  are  made  from  rib 
bones  of  buffalo  and  deer.  Figs,  i  and  k  are  made  from  the 
metapodial  bones  of  the  deer.  Besides  the  awls  which  are 
more  or  less  regular  in  shape,  many  were  found  which  were  very 
irregular.  These  were  evidently  intended  for  a  temporary  use 
and  were  made  of  anything  that  came  to  hand.  Fig.  m  repre¬ 
sents  one  of  these  cruder  implements.  The  awls  were  ground 
to  a  point  on  whet  stones  of  pumice  stone. 

A  paint  brush  similar  to  those  used  of  late  years  was 
found.  It  is  triangular  in  shape  and  is  made  from  the  interior 
portion  of  a  large  bone. 


Fig.  9.  OBJECT  MADE  FROM  BUFFALO  SHOULDER  BLADE.  * 

Certain  objects  of  doubtful  use  are  made  of  the  shoulder 
blades  of  large  animals.  Fig.  9  shows  such  an  implement.  It 
is  thin,  highly  polished  and  has  one  edge  sharpened.  They 
may  have  been  used  for  knives  and  scrapers. 


172 


THE  MANDANS. 


Plate  xxxvi,  figs.  sancP,  shows  two  bone  fish-hooks  which  were 
unearthed.  Figs,  u  and  v,  on  the  same  plate,  figure  two  pieces 
of  worked  bone  which  may  be  fish-hooks  in  the  process  of  manu¬ 
facture. 

Bone  was  made  into  a  great  number  of  ornamental  objects. 
Of  these,  beads  were  the  more  numerous  in  the  remains.  Bone 
beads  were  usually  made  from  the  leg  and  wing  bones  of  birds. 
Plate  xxxvi,  figs.  I  to  o,  are  bones  from  which  beads  have  been 
wholly  or  partially  cut  off.  Plate  xxxvi,  figs,  a  to  k,  are  beads 
of  different  sizes,  ranging  from  an  inch  and  a  half  to  a  quarter 
of  an  inch  in  length,  and  of  varying  diameters. 

“  Bracelets”  made  from  the  rib  bones  of  small  animals  are  shown 
in  Plate  xxxvi,  figs,  wto  z.  These  are  usually  grooved  on  one  side 
and  rounded  on  the  other,  and  perforated  at  one  end.  While 
calling  these  bracelets  it  is  difficult  to  understand  just  how  they 
were  used  as  such  and  they  may  have  been  simply  pendants. 

Plate  xxxvi,  fig.  r,  represents  a  bone  object,  with  notches  on 
the  four  sides  much  like  the  rectangular  stones  previously  de¬ 
scribed.  This  object  is  flat  on  one  side  and  curved  on  the  other 
and  has  a  high  polish. 

Plate  xxxvi,  figs,  p  and  q,  are  fragments  of  buffalo  shoulder 
blades  which  have  perforations,  their  use  being  uncertain. 


Fig.  10.  A  BONE  BUCKLE,  i 

Fig.  10  shows  a  curious  piece  of  bone  which  probably  served 
as  a  buckle.  It  is  made  of  the  outside  portion  of  a  buffalo  rib. 


The  only  piece  of  realistic  art  found  is  shown  in  Fig.  IF 
This  bone  is  beautifully  carved  anil  polished.  One  end  is  incised 
to  represent  a  crane’s  head,  while  the  rest  is  rounded  off  to 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  Pl.  XXXVI. 


SMALL  BONE  OBJECTS,  i 


THE  MANDANS. 


173 


form  the  handle.  The  only  sign  of  wear  is  on  the  beak  of  the 
bird’s  head.  The  use  of  this  object  is  uncertain,  but  it  is  pos¬ 
sible  that  it  was  part  of  the  paraphernalia  of  a  medicine  man. 


Fig.  12.  BONE  OBJECT  WITH  INCISED  DECORATION.  * 

Fig.  12  represents  a  portion  of  a  well-made  bone  instrument 
which  may  have  had  a  use  similar  to  the  above.  This  object 
is  decorated  with  incised  markings. 

Several  pieces  of  carved  bones,  representing  various  animal 
and  bird  heads,  are  reported  to  have  been  found  in  the  various 
village  sites,  but  no  opportunity  was  given  to  inspect  them. 

Pottery: — The  pottery  of  the  Mandans,  judging  by  the 
fragments  found  at  the  different  village  sites,  is  one  of  the  most 
interesting  features  of  their  culture.  It  is  an  excellent  ware, 
thin,  well-made,  and  with  a  characteristic  development  of  form 
and  ornament.  The  excellence  of  the  pottery  is  the  more 
remarkable  when  it  is  called  to  mind  that  the  Mandans  were  at 
the  northwestern  limits  of  the  pottery  area.  North  of  them, 
indeed,  on  the  Mouse  River,  some  crude  pottery  of  uncertain 
origin  is  found.  South  of  them,  the  Arikara  and  Omaha 
practised  the  ceramic  art,  being  influenced  in  it  by  the  pottery 
makers  of  the  Mississippi  valley.  East  of  them,  for  several 
hundred  miles,  lived  nomadic  tribes  who  were  apparently  unac¬ 
quainted  with  pottery,  while  the  pottery  of  Wisconsin  was  too 
remote  to  exert  an  influence. 

Mandan  pottery  is  mentioned  by  almost  all  the  early  ex¬ 
plorers,  but  no  one  gives  an  extended  description  of  it,  or  a 
sufficiently  detailed  account  of  the  method  of  manufacture. 
None  of  this  pottery  has  been  made  for  many  years  by  the  sur¬ 
vivors  of  the  tribe,  but  a  knowledge  of  it  can  be  gathered  from 
a  study  of  the  fragments  which  have  been  preserved. 

The  pottery  is,  for  the  most  part,  a  black  ware,  although 
sometimes  it  turned  dull  orange  or  red  from  firing.  The  un- 


174 


THE  MANDANS. 


baked  clay,  small  quantities  of  which  were  found  in  the  mounds 
is  bluish  black  in  color,  fine  grained,  and  tough.  It  was  tem¬ 
pered  with  coarse  sand  made  by  burning  and  pulverizing 
granite  bowlders.  Occasionally,  the  pots  seem  to  have  been 
painted  with  red  pigment  on  the  inside,  but  the  use  of  a  clay 
size  is  extremely  doubtful. 

The  method  employed  in  making  pottery  is  not  disclosed 
very  fully  by  the  fragments.  Still  something  can  be  added  to 
Maximilian’s  account  given  on  page  117  of  this  paper. 

Comparatively  few  of  the  pottery  fragments  show  much  of 
this  evidence  of  the  method  of  manufacture.  The  pots  appear 
to  have  been  smoothed  and  often  slightly  polished  with  a  stone 
or  other  implement.  The  surface  of  some  of  the  potsherds  is 
scratched  as  if  a  handful  of  dry  grass  had  been  used  to  smooth 
them. 

The  vessels  had  a  considerable  range  in  size  and  shape;  the 
largest  had  a  capacity  of  four  or  five  gallons,  while  toy  pots, 


Fig.  13.  TYPICAL  SHAPES  OF  POTS. 


two  inches  in  diameter,  were  sometimes  made.  Fig.  13  illus¬ 
trates  some  of  the  more  common  shapes,  as  reconstructed  from 
fragments.  There  seems  to  have  been  no  attempt  to  maintain 
a  series  of  types.  No  two  pots  are  exactly  alike  in  form  or 
ornament,  and  all  intermediate  shapes  between  the  ones  given 
are  found.  This  variation  did  not  lead  to  unusual  or  grotesque 
forms.  Fig.  13,  d,  shows  about  the  extreme  of  individual 
development.  The  bottoms  of  the  pots  were  rounded,  the 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


LARGE  FRAGMENTS  OF  MANDAN  POTS. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


vol.  in,  pl.  xxxviij. 


INCISED  POTTERY  FRAGMENTS. 


THE  MANDANS. 


175 


mouths  wide,  and  the  short  neck  more  or  less  constricted.  The 
profile  of  the  rim  is  characterized  by  a  reverse  curve.  Often 
these  profiles  have  very  fine  lines  and  present  much  diversity. 

Fig.  13,  a,  shows  the  most  common  and  crudest  form  of 
pots,  such  as  were  used  for  the  coarsest  work.  Sometimes 
these  rude  pots  were  entirely  undecorated,  but  usually  they 
had  three  or  four  encirling  cord  marks  around  the  rims  or  shoul¬ 
ders.  Fig.  13,  b,  c,  d,  and  /,  present  more  finely  shaped  pots, 
which  show  the  short  neck  and  the  reverse  curve  profile.  In 
Fig.  13,/i,the  form  approaches  that  of  a  bottle.  Fig.  13,  e,  shows 
a  form  of  pot  in  which  the  neck  is  absent.  The  mouth  is  smaller 
than  usual,  in  comparison  with  the  largest  diameter  of  the  pot. 
Fig.  13,  g,  represents  the  bowl  form,  which  was  rather  common. 
No  pottery  of  the  platter  form  was  found,  although  it  may 
have  existed. 

The  ornamentation  of  Mandan  pottery  is  interesting  and 
characteristic.  It  may  be  roughly  divided  under  two  heads 
incised,  and  cord-marked.  Incised  design  is  neither  so  uni¬ 
formly  nor  so  characteristically  developed  as  cord-mark  design. 
In  few  cases  can  a  unit  of  incised  design  be  extracted.  Cord- 
mark  design  is  applied  to  the  rim  and  to  the  neck  of  the  pot, 
while  incised  design  is  applied  almost  entirely  to  the  shoulder. 
For  this  reason  incised  design  is  usually  found  in  combination 
with  cord  marking. 

In  incised  design  the  incising  consists  of  long  and  short 
lines  such  as  could  be  made  by  a  shell  moulding  tool  like  that 
shown  in  Fig.  5,  a,  or  by  some  other  pointed  implement.  These 
lines  are  often  very  evenly  made,  and  seem  to  be  comb  markings. 
But  examination  shows  that  the  lines  are  not  exactly  parallel 
as  they  would  be  if  made  by  a  toothed  instrument  (Plate 
xxxviii,  fig.  h).  The  most  common  pattern  of  incised  design 
is  that  in  which  the  lines  are  arranged  to  form  a  zigzag  around 
the  shoulder  of  the  pot.  A  fine  example  of  this  is  seen  in  Fig. 
16,  and  a  freer  use  of  the  same  pattern  is  shown  in  Plate 
xxxvii,  fig.  e.  Often  parallel  lines  are  drawn,  as  a  sort  of 
cross-hatching,  in  irregular  areas  (Plate  xxxviii,  figs,  b,  g,  h). 
In  the  first  of  these,  the  suggestion  of  an  elaborate  design  is 
destroyed  by  the  evidence  of  other  fragments  from  the  same 


176 


THE  MANDANS. 


pot.  The  herring-bone  pattern  is  found  in  several  fragments 
(Plate  xxxviii,  figs,  a,  d,  and  in  text,  Fig.  14).  The  pattern 
shown  in  Plate  xxxviii,  fig.  c,  is  one  in  which  the  circum¬ 
ference  of  the  pot  was  divided  into  several  sections  by  a  series 
of  vertical  lines,  and  the  areas  thus  formed  were  decorated 
by  curved  cross  lines.  Perhaps  the  most  regular  of  incised  line 


Fig.  14.  INCISED  POTTERY  FRAGMENT  SHOWING 
HERRING-BONE  PATTERN. 

patterns  is  that  shown  in  Plate  xxxviii,  fig.  /.  Here  a  band 
around  the  shoulder  of  the  pot  is  divided  into  triangular 
areas  by  a  zigzag  line,  then  all  the  triangles  pointing  down 
are  filled  with  short  dashes,  while  the  alternate  ones,  pointing 
up,  arc  marked  with  oblique  lines.  Plate  xxxviii,  fig.  g,  shows 
a  less  orderly  form  of  the  triangular  area  decorated  with  short 
lines.  Figs.  14  and  15  show  undecorated  areas  in  the  midst  of 
decorated  ones.  In  Fig.  15  the  middle  zone  of  the  pot  seems 
to  have  been  divided  into  rectangles  which  were  further 
divided  by  diagonals.  The  upper  and  lower  quarters,  thus 
made,  were  decorated  by  diagonal  lines,  the  side  areas  remaining 
untouched.  From  the  rest  of  the  design,  given  on  the  fragment, 
it  is  evident  that  this  idea  was  not  carried  out  in  an  orderly 
fashion.  Fig.  16  show’s  a  fragment  having  a  row  of  indenta¬ 
tions  round  the  body  of  the  vessel. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


VOL.  Ill,  Pl.  XXXIX. 


POTTERY  ORNAMENTATION. 


Peubotoy  Museum  Papers 


VOL.  Ill,  PL.  XL. 


POTTERY  ORNAMENTATION. 


THE  MANDANS. 


177 


Thus  it  is  seen,  that  while  there  is  considerable  variety  in 
incised  design,  it  is  not  developed  in  an  orderly  manner.  It  is 
put  on  freely  and  at  haphazard. 

Cord-mark  design,  on  the  other  hand,  shows  much  neatness, 
order  and  precision.  It  also  shows  amazing  variety  within  certain 


narrow  limits.  Rectilinear  designs  preponderate  and  curvi¬ 
linear  forms  occur  only  in  conjunction  with  them.  Sinuous 
lines  were  not  found,  except  in  one  pattern  (Plate  xl,  fig.  k) 
where  the  semicircular  arcs  reverse. 

Plates  xxxix  and  xl  show  the  principal  variations  of  cord- 
marked  patterns.  The  cord-marked  designs  extend  in  bands 
around  the  rim  of  the  pot.  The  bands  are  made  up  either  of 
simple  encircling  lines  (Plate  xxxix,  figs,  a  and  b)  or  of  short, 
diagonal  lines,  often  bounded  by  the  encircling  lines.  Some 
of  these  patterns  show  much  neatness  in  covering  up  the  ends 
of  the  diagonal  lines  by  the  horizontal  lines,  (Plate  xxxix,  figs. 
e,  h,  i,  etc.)  All  the  combinations  of  direction  of  the  diagonal 
lines  are  shown  in  the  different  potsherds.  No  two  patterns 
are  found  to  be  exactly  alike,  the  number  of  the  cord  marks 
varying  greatly,  as  also  the  form  of  the  profile  to  which  the 
design  is  fitted.  Some  of  the  designs  are  very  neatly  put  on, 
while  others  are  carelessly  done.  The  size  of  the  cord  marks 
vary, — some  of  the  string  was  evidently  very  fine,  while  some 
was  quite  coarse. 


178 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  designs  in  which  triangles,  rectangles  and  arcs  are 
inserted  are  so  arranged  that  these  insertions  come  at  regular 
points  on  the  circumference.  Usually  there  are  four  of  these 
points  (Plate  xl,  figs.  /,  g,  h,  i,  j,  m,  o,  p). 

Besides  the  cord  marks,  the  ornamentation  is  often  enhanced 
by  scalloping  the  rim  as  in  Plate  xxxix,  fig.  p,  or  by  rendering 
it  wavy  as  in  Plate  xxxix,  fig.  i  and  Plate  xl,  figs,  e,  g,  h.  Some¬ 
times  a  sharp  angle  is  decorated  with  indentations,  as  in  Plate 
xxxix,  fig.  n.  Sometimes  the  underside  of  a  band  of  cord 
markings  is  bounded  by  a  series  of  finger  impressions,  as  in 
Plate  xxxix,  fig.  /.  Knobs  are  frequently  used  in  the  center  of 
the  triangular  or  arc-like  insertions,  as  in  Plate  xl,  figs.  /,  j,  p. 

In  Plate  xl,  fig.  a,  is  a  design  made  by  impressing  a  small 
stem  into  the  soft  clay  in  the  same  manner  as  the  cord  im¬ 
pressions  were  made.  Plate  xl,  fig.  b,  shows  a  design  appar¬ 
ently  made  by  impressing  a  small  stick  wound  with  a  skin 
thong.  It  may,  however,  have  been  made  by  a  string  of  shell 
beads.  Plate  xl,  fig.  I,  shows  a  rough  pattern  made  by  a  series 
of  small  holes,  directly  under  which  is  an  imprint,  perhaps  that 
of  the  paddle  stick  used  in  toughening  the  clay.  Plate  xl, 
fig.  n,  is  a  crude  ornamentation  made  by  the  prints  of  the  the 
thumb  nail. 

Only  one  example  of  textile  impression  is  found,  that  shown 
in  Plate  xl,  fig.  d.  The  piece  of  pottery  which  shows  this  was 
picked  up  near  the  town  of  Mandan.  The  fabric  from  the  im¬ 
print,  seems  to  have  been  made  of  cords  which  are  woven  around 
a  series  of  heavy  cords  or  withes. 

As  before  mentioned,  an  oval  stone,  which  was  evidently 
pecked  into  shape,  was  found  in  one  of  the  house  sites.  This 
was  probably  one  of  the  kind  on  which  the  bottoms  were  moulded. 
'Fhe  pot  was  apparently  beaten  with  paddle  sticks,  of  various 
kinds,  to  toughen  the  clay.  Plate  xli  reproduces  several  pot¬ 
sherds  which  show  markings.  Sometimes  the  fragments  show 
crisscross  markings,  as  if  a  paddle  covered  with  matting  were 
used  (figs.  /,  g,  i,  m,  n  and  o).  Sometimes  fine  check  markings 
(figs,  c,  d  and  e)  suggest  that  an  incised  paddle  was  used. 
More  frequently,  however,  the  markings  are  such  as  to  suggest 
the  use  of  a  small  spatulate  stick  (figs,  h,  j,  k,  l,  p  and  q ).  The 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


POTSHERDS  SHOWING  PADDLE  AND  OTHER  MARKINGS. 


Peabody  Museum  Papers. 


Vol.  Ill,  Pi,.  XL.II. 


POTTERY  RIMS  AND  POTTERY  DISC. 


THE  MANDANS. 


179 


markings,  when  roughly  parallel,  are  either  horizontal  or  vertical. 
Usually  the  markings  around  the  necks  of  the  pots  are  vertical. 

Sometimes  the  upper  surface  of  the  rim  was  impressed  with 
cords  or  otherwise  ornamented.  Plate  xlii,  figs.  /  to  j,  gives 
representations  of  the  different  modes.  Another  kind  of  orna¬ 
mentation,  which  was  only  slightly  employed,  was  to  form  the 
edge  of  the  pot  into  a  series  of  broad  serrations  or  crescent¬ 
shaped  depressions.  Apparently  there  were  four  or  more 
cusps  to  the  circumference.  Examples  of  the  cusps  are  shown 
in  Plate  xlii,  figs.  /  and  m.  In  this  feature  the  Mandan  pottery 
closely  resembles  the  pottery  around  the  Great  Lakes. 

Many  of  the  Mandan  pots  were  provided  with  ears,  lugs  or 
spouts,  the  last  evidently  used  to  assist  in  pouring  (Plate  xlii, 
figs,  a  and  e).  A  lug  is  shown  in  Plate  xlii,  fig.  b.  Sometimes 
the  ear  or  lug  may  have  been  used  only  as  a  detail  of  ornamen¬ 
tation.  Plate  xlii,  fig.  c,  gives  a  case  in  which  the  presence  of  the 
lug  is  disclosed  by  the  cord  marks.  Plate  xlii,  fig.  d,  shows  a 
peculiar  spout-like  opening  which  seems  too  small  to  have 
served  any  useful  purpose. 

Two  or  three  fragments  of  pottery  showing  a  perforation 
were  found.  The  perforation  was  probably  to  enable  some 
break  to  be  mended. 

No  pipes  made  of  pottery  were  found.  The  only  other 
article  of  pottery,  besides  the  potsherds,  was  the  perforated 
disc  shown  in  Plate  xlii,  fig.  k.  This  object  is  about  an  inch  in 
diameter. 

Vegetable  remains:  —  The  materials  of  vegetable  origin 
in  the  excavations  were  nearly  all  charred  and  consequently 
many  points  about  them  cannot  be  considered.  However, there 
are  a  number  of  interesting  details  which  coincide  as  far  as  they 
go  with  historical  information  concerning  the  Mandan  agricul¬ 
ture.  The  actual  remains  of  vegetables  found  were  those  of 
corn,  beans,  squash  or  pumpkins.  The  seeds  of  sunflowers 
and  small  black  seeds  of  a  sort  of  pig-weed  ( Chenopodium  sp .) 
were  also  found. 

The  corn  remains  were  mostly  of  cobs,  from  which  the  grain 
had  been  cut  off,  leaving  only  an  occasional  kernel.  One  or 
two  pieces  of  ears  with  the  kernels  and  part  of  the  husk  intact 


180 


THE  MANDANS. 


were  found.  The  cobs  were  all  charred  and  occurred  in  layers 
in  the  mounds  and  at  times  in  the  caches,  being  often  mixed 
with  the  remains  of  burnt  sunflower  and  other  seeds.  The 
cobs  were  seldom  over  six  inches  long  and  many  were  smaller. 
They  seemed  to  be  of  two  types,  a  long  and  thin  cob,  and  a 
shorter,  rather  thick  cob.  The  kernels  themselves  were  also 
of  two  types;  a  small  kernel,  rather  long,  and  a  considerably 
larger  one,  almost  round.  All  of  the  cobs  showed  regular  rows, 
with  the  exception  of  the  nubbins,  which  are  very  irregular  in 
nearly  every  variety  of  corn.  The  number  of  rows  on  an  ear 
varied  somewhat,  but  no  ear  was  found  with  any  other  num¬ 
bers  than  eight,  ten  or  twelve.  The  slim  cobs  usually  had  ten 
rows  with  occasionally  eight.  The  thicker  cobs  always  had 
twelve  rows.  The  kernels  were  in  too  imperfect  a  state  to  permit 
of  discovering  whether  they  were  flint,  dent,  or  sweet  corn. 
The  cobs  with  the  smaller  kernels  had  very  much  the  appearance 
of  pop-corn.  The  ears  seemed  to  be  of  fairly  uniform  length, 
and  in  this  respect  ,  as  well  as  in  their  regularity  of  rows,  differed 
noticeably  from  the  later  “Ree”  or  “Squaw”  corn  of  the 
Indians  in  this  region. 

Beans  were  of  rare  occurrence  in  the  excavation,  usually 
being  found  mixed  with  the  other  burnt  vegetables  and  often 
split  in  halves.  No  sign  of  the  pods  was  found.  The  beans 
were  very  obviously  of  two  sorts.  The  first  was  a  rat  her  long  bean, 
averaging  about  one  half  an  inch  in  length,  and  shaped  much 
like  the  kidney  bean.  The  second  was  a  small  bean,  usually 
about  one  quarter  of  an  inch  in  length  and  almost  round,  resem¬ 
bling  very  much  the  navy  bean. 

Charred  sunflower  seed  and  portions  of  the  heads  were  found 
thickly  in  all  the  burnt  layers.  The  seeds  of  these  also  can  be 
divided  into  at  least  two  sorts.  The  most  common  appeared 
to  be  a  long  seed,  averaging  from  one  half  to  five  eighths  of  an 
inch  in  length,  appearing  much  like  that  of  the  ordinary  sunflower 
of  civilized  cultivation.  The  other  type  of  seed  was  a  shorter 
and  thicker  one,  usually  little  over  one  quarter  of  an  inch  in 
length.  The  charred  pieces  of  the  heads  were  much  broken  up. 

The  squash  or  pumpkin  seeds  were  the  only  ones  not 
in  a  charred  condition,  and  these  usually  occurred  in  smallpockets 


THE  MANDANS. 


181 


probably  where  a  handful  had  been  thrown.  One  of  the  stem 
ends  of  a  squash  was  found  and  showed  by  its  shape  that  the 
vegetable  had  not  been  of  the  flat,  summer  squash  variety.  The 
seeds  were  of  two  or  perhaps  three  sorts.  First  there  was  a  long, 
narrow  seed  resembling  some  of  the  large  gourd  seeds.  The  other 
type  was  much  thicker  through,  and  apparently  represented 
two  varieties,  judging  from  the  difference  in  size.  One  of  these 
was  as  long  as  the  first  mentioned,  but  as  has  been  said,  was 
thicker.  The  second,  of  the  same  shape,  averaged  very  little 
over  half  as  large. 

The  small  black  seeds  above  referred  to  were  found  inter¬ 
mixed  with  the  other  vegetable  remains  in  the  layers.  They 
had  a  hard  shiny  shell  and  thus  even  when  not  charred  had 
lasted  well.  The  charred  ones,  however,  were  in  much  the  best 
state.  Seeds  of  this  genus  of  plants  are  eaten  in  South  America, 
and  are  decidedly  valuable  for  food,  and,  although  there  is 
no  mention  of  their  use  as  food  by  the  Mandans,  they  may 
have  been  so  used. 

In  addition  to  the  vegetables  themselves  there  were  other 
finds  of  vegetable  origin.  Among  these  were  objects  of  bark, 
wood  and  grass.  The  most  notable  of  the  bark  finds  were  two 
large  pieces  of  birch  bark,  found  together  in  one  of  the  pits.  These 
have  perforations  where  they  had  been  sewed  and  probably 
formed  a  part  of  a  basket  or  box.  The  birch  is  not  found  within 
one  hundred  miles  or  more  of  this  region,  and  the  bark  recep¬ 
tacle  must  have  come  through  trade  with  some  more  eastern 
nation.  Other  finds  were  three  or  four  flat  disc-like  coils,  about 
four  to  five  inches  in  diameter,  with  a  hole  in  the  center.  These 
were  made  of  the  very  thin  inner  bark,  probably  of  the  cotton¬ 
wood,  in  the  shape  of  a  mat  and  bound  around  the  outside 
with  another  strand  of  the  same  bark.  It  is  very  likely  that 
these  are  identical  with  the  stands  upon  which  the  pots  were 
set,  as  described  by  Henry.  In  one  place  a  small  quantity  of 
bark  flakes  was  found,  and  it  is  barely  possible  that  these  may 
be  remnants  of  smoking  materials  of  Cornus. 

The  only  article  made  of  grass  was  a  small  charred  piece  of 
cord,  although  burnt  grass  occurred  frequently  in  the  black 
layers,  and  decayed  grass  or  hay  was  found  as  a  lining  in  the 


1S2 


THE  MANDANS. 


pits.  The  cord  mentioned  consisted  of  three  strands,  each  of 
six  or  seven  prairie  grass  stems;  these  three  strands  were  not 
braided,  but  twisted. 

The  remains  of  posts  and  sticks  were  often  in  such  a  condi¬ 
tion  that  the  wood  could  be  identified.  One  of  the  largest  posts 
found  in  the  house  site  was  of  ash,  but  most  of  the  large  ones 
were  elearly  cut  out  of  cottonwood.  For  the  smaller  posts, 
however,  the  diamond  willow  seems  to  have  been  most  fre¬ 
quently  used,  and  it  is  unquestionably  the  best  wood.  A  few 
specimens  of  worked  wood  were  found  but  none  of  great  impor¬ 
tance.  There  was  a  post,  hewed  square ;  a  number  of  pieces 
of  planks  or  slabs,  fairly  well  cut;  remnants  of  willow  thatch 
from  the  roof;  and  a  small  piece  of  wood  which  had  been 
whittled  down  with  a  blade  of  some  sort. 

The  ashes  showed  the  use  of  at  least  two  sorts  of  fire  wood, 
one  giving  a  white  ash  and  the  other  a  red  one.  The  red  was 
probably  diamond  willow  in  most  cases,  as  that  is  the  only 
common  wood  in  the  region  which  leaves  a  reddish  residue. 

Animal  Bones: — Animal  bones  were  numerous  in  all  parts 
of  the  village  site,  not  only  in  the  form  of  implements,  which 
have  already  been  discussed,  but  also  as  refuse.  Many  of  the 
bones  were  broken  up  into  small  fragments,  but  a  number  of 
whole  ones  were  discovered  and  most  of  them  have  been  iden¬ 
tified.  There  were  fish,  bird  and  mammal  bones  belonging 
for  the  most  part  to  the  following  species:  Deer  ( Cariacus  vir- 
ginianus),  Buffalo  ( Bison  americanus),  Elk  {C ervus  canadensis) , 
Antelope  ( Antilocapra  mnericana),  Gray  Wolf  ( Canis  lupus), 
Coyote  (Canis  latrans),  Raccoon  ( Procyon  lotor),  owl  ( Strigidae 
sp.),  and  Bald  Eagle  ( Haliaetus  leucocephalus) ,  besides  bones 
of  smaller  birds,  some  that  seemed  to  be  from  a  crane  but 
could  not  be  accurately  identified;  bones  of  mice  and  gophers; 
some  few  fish  bones,  and  quite  a  number  of  unio  and  small 
snail  shells.  It  is  a  significant  fact  that  no  remains  what¬ 
ever  of  either  horse  or  dog  skeletons  were  found,  thus  apparently 
showing  that  the  horse  had  not  yet  got  to  the  Mandans  when 
they  lived  on  the  Heart,  and  also  corroborating  Henry’s  state¬ 
ment  that  the  Mandans  at  first  had  no  dogs. 


THE  MANDANS. 


183 


The  bison  bones  predominated  in  the  finds,  parts  of  almost 
every  portion  of  the  skeleton  being  found.  One  whole  skull 
was  uncovered,  besides  a  number  of  horns  and  a  considerable 
quantity  of  teeth.  Portions  of  the  vertebral  column  were  also 
taken  out,  including  the  long  vertebrae  of  the  hump ;  ribs,  hoofs, 
and  leg  bones,  the  latter  much  broken,  were  present,  as  well  as 
a  number  of  the  large  scapulae  which  were  used  in  making 
the  hoes. 

Of  the  deer  not  many  bones  were  identified.  There  were, 
however,  a  number  of  antler  tips,  as  well  as  teeth  and  broken 
portions  of  the  jaw. 

Two  antelope  skulls  were  found,  one  that  of  an  adult,  and 
the  other  that  of  a  very  young  animal  with  horns  just  sprouting. 
Antelope  teeth  were  also  found  as  well  as  some  portions  of  the 
smaller  leg  bones,  a  piece  of  the  sternum,  and  one  or  two 
scapulae. 

A  number  of  the  large  front  teeth  of  the  elk  or  wapiti 
were  found,  but  none  of  the  valuable  “  tushes.’  ’  Part  of  an  elk 
horn  as  well  as  several  tips  came  to  light  in  the  excavation. 

Wolf  remains  occurred  frequently,  four  whole  skulls  being 
found,  as  well  as  a  number  of  leg  and  foot  bones,  and  several 
of  the  last  phalanges  to  which  the  claws  were  attached.  Three 
of  these  skulls  were  broken  in  on  one  side,  as  if  the  animal  had 
been  knocked  on  the  head  with  a  club.  Two  cayote  skulls  were 
also  found,  as  well  as  some  of  the  leg  bones.  From  one  of  these 
skulls  the  nose  had  been  smoothly  cut  off. 

Among  the  smaller  animals,  the  teeth  and  jaws  of  a  raccoon, 
gopher  jaws,  and  several  skulls  of  mice  were  found. 

A  large  number  of  bird  bones  were  not  identified  but  some 
of  the  wing  bones  of  a  species  of  owl  as  well  as  the  leg  bones 
from  a  bald  headed  eagle  were  found.  The  bill  of  some  sort 
of  crane  also  came  to  light. 

The  fish  bones  were  so  fragmentary  that  the  species  were 
not  accurately  identified,  but  it  is  probable  that  most  of  them 
were  from  cat-fish. 

Burial  and  Human  Remains: — The  human  remains  dis¬ 
covered  during  the  excavation  were  few  and  unsatisfactory. 
Only  one  skull  was  found  and  but  two  adult  skeletons  were 


1S4 


THE  MANDANS. 


secured,  one  in  poor  condition.  Parts  of  a  child’s  skeleton 
were  found  and  broken  bits  of  skulls  occurred  occasionally  in 
mounds  or  pits.  The  two  skeletons,  besides  being  apparently 
of  two  different  types,  exemplified  two  very  different  methods 
of  burial. 

The  first  skeleton,  which  was  complete,  was  found  under 
the  largest  mound  at  the  bottom  of  a  small  circular  pit.  The 
skeleton  was  in  a  flexed  position,  hands  about  the  neck,  and 
knees  drawn  up  nearly  to  the  chin.  It  lay  on  the  right  side 
and  faced  towards  the  southwest.  No  ornaments  of  any  sort 
were  found  about  the  remains,  but  a  bone  hoe  lay  above  and 
another  just  below  them ;  a  brown  layer,  below,  possibly  marked 
the  remains  of  some  sort  of  wrapping.  This  burial  shows 
nothing  whatever  in  common  with  that  of  the  Mandans  so  far 
as  accounts  go;  and  it  resembles  that  of  the  Ankara  only  in 
that  it  was  placed  underground,  since  the  Ankara  lined  the 
grave  with  stone  and  buried  many  things  of  value  with  the 
dead,  often  placing  more  than  one  body  in  a  grave  which  was 
partitioned  into  compartments. 

The  second  burial  differed  in  every  detail  from  the  first,  but 
seemed  to  correspond  to  the  Mandan  custom.  The  bones  had 
been  collected  into  a  bundle  and  buried  without  ceremony,  and 
a  child’s  remains  in  an  irregular  mass  were  found  associated 
with  the  larger  bundle  of  bones.  The  skull  of  the  adult  was 
missing.  According  to  Gatlin  after  the  dead  body  had  dried 
on  the  scaffold  it  was  taken  down,  the  head  was  kept  in  one 
of  the  shrines  and  the  bones  were  buried  in  a  bundle.  The 
body  of  a  child  was  tied  to  the  scaffold  of  an  adult,  and  it  is 
probable  that  the  bones  were  buried  along  with  those  of  the 
older  person.  Hence  this  burial  may  be  confidently  identified 
as  Mandan.  A  number  of  broken  fragments  of  children’s 
skulls  were  found  among  the  other  refuse  of  the  mounds  and 
pits,  but  none  of  the  other  bones  of  the  skeleton  were  ever 
present,  which  corroborates  Catlin’s  story  of  the  separation  of 
the  skulls  from  the  remainder  of  the  body. 

As  has  been  said,  the  two  skeletons  found  seemed  to  be  of 
different  types.  The  first  one  was  that  of  a  man  about  fifty 
years  of  age,  whose  height  was  1594  cm.  The  skeleton  was 


THE  MANDANS. 


185 


nearly  perfect  and  showed  no  deformities  or  injuries.  Measure¬ 
ments  of  the  skeleton  itself  will  be  considered  in  connection 
with  those  of  the  second  one.  A  table  of  skull  measurements 
is  given  below,  and,  for  comparison,  measurements  of  three 
Mandan  skulls  given  in  the  Army  Medical  Museum  Report1  are 
appended. 

Skulls  from  Army 
Skull  of  Skeleton  1.  Medical  Museum 


Cranial  index 

71.4 

79.4 

77.3 

74.7 

Height-length  index 

70.8 

73.1 

70.3 

71. 

Height-breadth  index 

90.9 

88.4 

91.9 

97.8 

Facial  index  (total) 

89.2 

Facial  index  (upper) 

58.4 

Gnathic  index 

91.5 

Orbital  ‘  ‘ 

89.4 

Nasal 

47.1 

Palatal  ‘  ‘ 

117.6 

Capacity 

1265. 

1450. 

1370. 

1440. 

Figures  on  nine  skulls  given  by  Dr.  Boas2  averaged  80.6  for 
the  cephalic  index.  On  measurements  of  156  persons  of  both  the 
Mandan  and  Hidatsa  tribes,  an  average  cephalic  index  of  79.6 
was  obtained  by  him,  but  from  the  seriation  of  the  measurements 
the  tendency  was  marked  towards  longer  heads,  six  individ¬ 
uals  having  an  index  of  70,  six  more  of  71. 

The  second  skeleton  was  that  of  a  man  about  forty  years  old. 
The  height  was  much  greater  than  that  of  the  first,  being  about 
1738  cm.  Some  of  the  bones  in  this  skeleton  were  broken  and 
a  few  of  the  smaller  ones  were  missing.  The  bones  showed 
signs  of  severe  rheumatic  trouble. 


1  G.  A.  Otis:  Check  List  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Medical  Museum,  p.  72,  1870. 

2  Zeitschrift  fur  Ethnology,  vol.  27,  p.  397. 


186 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  more  important  figures  for  each  skeleton  are: — 

Femur. 


No. 

1. 

No. 

2. 

Right 

Left 

Right 

Left 

Length  . 

433 

430 

471 

— 

Oblique  length . 

429 

425 

470 

— 

Diameter  of  head . 

40 

46 

49 

48 

Platymeric  index . 

71.4 

63.8 

65.7 

68.5 

Transverse  diameter  of  condyles 

S3 

83 

85 

— 

Angle  of  neck  and  shaft  .  .  . 

118 

118 

122 

122 

Anterior  posterior  diameter  at 
mid-shaft  . 

27 

26 

29 

29 

Transverse  diameter  at  mid-shaft 

27 

27 

28 

28 

Tibia. 

Right 

Left 

Right 

Left 

Length  . 

361 

362 

385 

382 

Diameter  of  condyles  .... 

70 

70 

80 

82 

Anterior  posterior  diameter  at 
mid-shaft . 

31 

30 

39 

38 

Transverse  diameter  at  mid-shaft 

19 

20 

22 

20 

Tndex  . 

62.9 

66.6 

56.4 

52.8 

Length  . 

Humerus. 

,  .  320 

317 

347 

337 

Diameter  of  head  .  .  .  . 

46 

46 

50 

50 

Anterior  posterior  diameter  at 
deltoid  eminence  .  .  .  . 

17 

17 

21 

16 

Transverse  at  same  .  .  .  . 

21 

21 

21 

21 

Angle  of  neck  and  shaft 

.  .  125 

125 

120 

125 

Index  at  deltoid  eminence 

80.9 

— 

100. 

— 

Torsion  of  humerus  . 

133 

122 

115 

121 

Length  . 

Scapula. 

...  158 

162 

165 

Breadth  . 

.  .  .  108 

105 

110 

— 

Length  at  base  of  spine  . 

.  .  .  124 

127 

129 

— 

Scapular  index  .... 

.  .  .  81.2 

82.6 

85.2 

— 

Length  of  radius  . 

.  .  .  245 

244 

271 

— 

Lengtli  of  clavicle  .  . 

.  .  150 

155 

157 

— 

THE  MANDANS. 


187 


Pelvis. 


Breadth . 

Height . 

Breadth  between  ischia  tubera 
Between  ischia  spines 
Sub-pubic  angle  .... 
Diameter  of  true  pelvis  .  . 

Conjugate  diameter  .  .  . 

Pelvic  index . 

Oblique  diameter  .... 
Depth  of  symphysis.  .  . 

Depth  of  pelvic  cavity  . 


301  292 

217  216 

164  143 

110  79 

77.5  43 

154  125 

117  100 

75.9  80 

138  118 

42  48 

102  109 


Although  no  comparative  figures  were  available  for  any¬ 
thing  except  the  skulls  of  the  Mandans,  all  of  the  other  Siouan 
tribes,  whose  measurements  are  given  by  Dr.  Boas,  show  pre¬ 
vailingly  a  tall  stature.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Arikara  and 
Pawnee  average  much  shorter.  This  marks  the  only  well  de¬ 
fined  distinction  which  can  here  be  made  between  the  Arikara 
and  the  Mandans,  as  the  cranial  index  of  the  former  also  shows 
a  long-headed  type,  though  probably  not  quite  as  long  as  the 
Mandan.  An  average  of  174  Arikara  individuals1  gave  a  cepha¬ 
lic  index  of  81.5.  Still  another  series  of  measurements  gave  82. 2 
The  Army  Medical  Museum  Report3  gives  on  one  Arikara  skull, 
75.8,  and  on  four  others  the  average  was  82.  None  of  the  Ari¬ 
kara  skulls  run  as  low  as  71  and  70,  as  did  some  of  the  Mandan. 

Probably  the  second  skeleton  can  safely  be  called  Mandan. 
The  first  one,  however, seems  to  be  hard  to  place,  for  the  method 
of  burial  was  distinctly  not  Mandan,  and  the  skeleton  was  of 
short  stature. 

1  Boas  :  Op.  cit.,  p.  389. 

-  Ibid.,  p.  397. 

3  G.  A.  Otis:  Check  List  of  the  U.  S.  Army  Medical  Museum,  p.  72. 


SECTION  III. 


LANGUAGE. 

The  language  of  the  Mandans  is  unquestionably  of  the 
Siouan  stock,  but  does  not  appear  to  show  very  much  closer 
affiliation  with  one  than  with  another  branch  of  that  stock. 
The  Hidatsa  is  perhaps  nearest  to  the  Mandan  but  even  that 
differs  materially  both  in  vocabulary  and  grammatical  con¬ 
struction.  It  has  been  said  that  the  Winnebago  resembles 
most  closely  the  Mandan,  but  from  a  careful  comparison  with 
vocabularies  containing  over  one  hundred  equivalents  from 
some  six  or  seven  Siouan  dialects  it  appears  that  this  resem¬ 
blance  is  not  as  great  as  that  between  the  Winnebago  and  the 
Iowa. 

The  Mandans  were  excellent  linguists  and  we  are  told  by 
early  “'travellers  that  they  were  accustomed  to  learn  the  lan¬ 
guages  of  nearly  all  their  neighbors,  while  very  few  of  the  other 
tribes  ever  learned  Mandan.  Such  a  condition  was  apt  to  bring 
about  considerable  change  in  the  language,  and  very  likely  it 
did  so.  Maximilian  was  told  by  the  old  men  that  in  their  youth 
the  Mandan  and  Hidatsa  resembled  each  other  much  less  than 
they  did  in  1S34.  The  songs  of  the  Okeepa  and  society  dances 
were  in  an  older  language  which  no  one  but  the  medicine  men 
and  those  whom  they  taught  understood.  And  lastly  at  this 
time  the  Mandans  in  the  two  villages  spoke  different  dialects. 
The  ones  on  the  south  side  of  the  river,  who  thus  had  more 
intercourse  with  the  Hidatsa,  spoke  a  dialect  resembling  that 
language  more  closely  than  did  the  dialect  in  the  northern  vil¬ 
lage.  Words  in  the  south  village  became  shortened  to  resemble 
the  more  abrupt  speech  of  the  Hidatsa,  and  sound  changes, 
notably  that  of  d  for  n,  crept  in  from  the  latter. 

Information  upon  the  Mandan  language  is  exceedingly 
scarce  and  no  very  accurate  or  full  grammatical  sketch  exists. 
Small  vocabularies  are  found  in  many  places,  but  these  have 
(188) 


THE  MANDANS. 


189 


never  before  been  brought  together.  Those  given  by  Catlin, 
Maximilian,  Hayden,  Morgan  and  Schoolcraft  have  been  care¬ 
fully  gone  over  and  a  composite  vocabulary  (see  following  pages) 
of  all  the  words  has  been  compiled.  Several  other  lists  of  words 
were  examined  and  were  found  to  contain  only  words  taken 
from  the  above  authorities.  James  Kipp  who  lived  in  the 
Mandan  villages  for  a  large  part  of  his  life  furnished  every  one 
of  the  above  mentioned  persons  with  their  material,  and  con¬ 
sequently  all  vocabularies  of  the  Mandan  language  come  through 
him. 

Maximilian  and  Hayden  both  left  short  grammatical  sketches, 
very  incomplete,  which  have,  nevertheless,  been  of  considerable 
assistance  in  the  preparation  of  this  paper. 

Mandan  texts  have  been  most  difficult  to  obtain,  there  being 
only  two  small  publications  printed  in  that  language.  One  is 
a  translation  of  the  Ten  Commandments  by  the  Rev.  Charles  L. 
Hall.1  The  other  is  a  hymn  book  containing  also  the  Ten 
Commandments  and  the  Lord’s  Prayer,  prepared  by  Mr.  R.  J). 
Hall,  which  has  been  of  the  greatest  assistance  in  further  gram¬ 
matical  study. 

Phonetics:  —  The  question  of  phonetics  in  the  Mandan  is 
very  uncertain.  There  is  no  full  discussion  of  the  subject  and 
in  taking  down  vocabularies  little  care  seems  to  have  been 
used  to  obtain  the  exact  sound,  each  authority  spelling  the 
same  word  a  little  differently.  Consequently  an  enumeration 
of  the  Mandan  sounds  can  only  be  an  approximation. 

The  vowels  were  i,  e,  a,  d,  o,  u,  and  perhaps  ii.  The  a  seems 
to  be  as  a  in  “  father.  ’  ’  The  e  is  used  as  e  in  “  met  ’  ’  or  as  « 
in  German.  No  distinction  can  be  made  between  the  two  as 
both  are  used  in  different  vocabularies  in  the  same  word. 

The  i  is  long  as  in  ‘  ‘  machine o  is  long  as  in  “  note o  is 
short  as  in  “not.”  A  clear  distinction  between  the  two  o’s 
cannot  always  be  made  however.  The  u  is  long  as  oo  in 
‘  ‘  boot  ”  or  as  the  German  u  in  “  buch.  ’  ’  The  German  ii  occurs 
occasionally  in  Maximilian  but  in  no  other  vocabularies. 

The  vowels  seem  often  to  be  nasalized  (kohante=corn)  as 
in  Dakota,  though  careless  transcription  has  failed  to  note  this. 

1  See  Pilling:  Bibliography  of  the  Siouan  Languages;  Washington  1887,  p.  31. 


190 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  following  consonants  appear  in  Mandan: 


SURD. 

SONANT. 

SPIRANT. 

NASAL 

Velar  . 

0. 

- 

- 

- 

Gutteral . 

k 

! 7 

X 

- 

Alveolar  . 

- 

- 

tc, 

n 

Dental . 

t 

d,  r 

- 

- 

Interdental . 

- 

e 

- 

- 

Labial  . 

V 

b 

- 

m 

Lateral . 

L 

- 

- 

- 

Sibilant . 

Also  h  and  w. 

c,  s 

— 

The  a:  is  a  gutteral  like  ch  in  German  “  Bach.  ” 

The  w  is  perhaps  a  bilabial,  as  we  find  the  same  word  spelled 
tewe  and  teve  in  different  vocabularies. 

The  d  and  r  seem  to  be  interchangeable.  The  tc  occurs 
very  seldom.  Only  one  case  of  the  lateral  L  is  known  and 
Maximilian  alone  gives  it  in  the  case  of  the  word  tasxaL= what. 

The  c  is  of  very  frequent  occurrence,  and  the  k  and  x  sounds 
are  also  prominent.  The  cj  is  rarely  used  and  j,  l,  /,  y,  and  z,  so 
far  as  the  vocabularies  show,  do  not  appear  at  all.  The  m  and  w 
sounds  often  seem  to  be  interchanged.  This  recalls  the  Hidatsa 
where  there  are  two  series  of  three  or  four  interchangeable 
sounds.  Consonants  are  rarely  doubled  and  are  generally 
separated  by  vowels,  making  the  language  rather  smooth. 

Of  accentuation  little  can  be  said  as  vocabularies  either 
fail  to  give  any  accent  or  differ  among  themselves.  It  is  prob¬ 
able,  however,  that  the  radical  syllable  usually  keeps  the  main 
accent. 

Euphonic  Changes:  —  Euphonic  changes  are  a  prominent 
feature  in  many  of  the  Siouan  languages,  and  there  is  evidence 
of  their  occurrence  in  Mandan,  although  not  with  such  fre¬ 
quency  as  in  Dakota.  In  the  suffixing  of  the  tense  sign  certain 
changes  of  this  sort  occur  and  will  be  mentioned  later.  The 
negative  also  seems  to  carry  with  it  alterations  for  the  sake  of 
euphony. 

The  Root: — The  root  in  Mandan  seems  to  be  usually 
monosyllabic  and  often  of  but  two  sounds,  a  consonant  and  a 


THE  MANDANS. 


191 


vowel  as  he,  hu.  But  triliteral  roots  are  also  found  ending  in 
consonants,  as  sek  and  xik. 

The  Mandan  is  a  polysynthetic  language  and  the  roots,  fixed 
in  a  mass  of  prefixes  and  suffixes  and  often  joined  with  other 
roots,  are  very  difficult  to  isolate  from  the  material  available. 
Cases  of  duplication  seem  to  be  rare  among  the  roots  and  no 
certain  example  of  it  can  be  cited. 

Cases  of  changes  in  the  root  vowels  are  difficult  to  locate 
also,  as  there  are  only  a  few  examples  which  seem  fairly  certain, 
such  as  that  of  sek  to  sik. 

Reduplication  : — Reduplication  occurs  occasionally, but  on 
the  whole  seems  to  play  a  rather  unimportant  part  in  the 
formation  of  the  language.  Probably  most  of  the  examples 
are  onomatopoetic  in  their  origin. 

Such  reduplication  is  found  best  in  nouns  as: — karasisitka= 
ants,  h’kaka= star,  minihini—  a  spring,  raskeke= summer, 
kaka  =raven,  ihika— owl,  rakanande— hail,  hokikaka— crow. 

Less  frequent  cases  are  seen  in  the  verbs,  of  which  the  follow¬ 
ing  are  perhaps  the  best  marked:  —hatidirotoc=to  shake;  waki- 
kinaruc— to  sing;  kikidacoc= to  laugh. 

The  use  of  reduplication  to  show  iteration  and  frequency 
does  not  occur  commonly  and  is  probably  best  seen  in  the  above 
examples  of  verbs. 

Inflection  of  the  Noun: — Inflection  for  sex  is  unusual 
among  American  languages  and  its  existence  among  the 
Mandans  seems  improbable,  though  Maximilian  gives  an 
example  of  something  of  the  sort  which  he  says  was 
occasionally  used,  thus:  —  one  man  —  numank  maxana ;  one 
woman=wnMe  mazxana. 

As  a  usual  thing  different  words  are  used  to  differentiate  the 
sexes,  or  the  word  for  female  is  added  to  the  masculine.  In  the 
imperative  there  is  a  general  distinction  in  endings,  to  a  man 
one  says:  isekta— do  thou;  to  a  woman:  isekana— do  thou. 

For  the  formation  of  the  plural  the  suffix  kerexe  or  kerre, 
meaning  many,  was  usually  added  to  the  noun ;  as  mana  (tree) , 
mana-kerexe  (many  trees=a  forest).  One  case  of  a  plural  by 
reduplication  is  found  in  mahna  (year),  manahna  (years). 
Hayden  gives  another  plural,  of  which,  however,  the  text  shows 


192 


THE  MANDANS. 


no  sign.  It  is  formed  thus:  leaf=ape,  leaves=«jnc,  weed= 
make,  weeds —mahoc.  In  some  cases  the  plural  suffix  is 
omitted  as  in  ideta= stars.  Maximilian  gives  one  case  of  a 
dual  as :  ahde— arm,  ahdenahta— the  two  arms.  Pluralizing  in 
the  verb  seems  to  be  effected  purely  by  the  use  of  plural  pro¬ 
nominal  forms. 

It  might  be  of  interest  to  note  the  fact  that  the  suffix  kerre, 
many,  is  very  similar  to  the  adverb  kre,  several,  used  in  the  same 
way  in  Catawba. 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  real  inflection  of  the  noun  for 
case.  But  postpositions  were  used  where  necessary,  and 
the  position  of  the  noun  in  the  sentence  marked  its  relation  to 
the  verb.  The  verb  nearly  always  ends  the  sentence,  the 
subject,  if  not  incorporated  in  the  verb,  comes  first  and  the  ob¬ 
ject  next.  The  pronominal  incorporation  in  the  verb  usually 
served  to  distinguish  subject  and  object. 

It  is  possible  that  there  is  a  sort  of  nominal  possessive  suffix 
ki,  but  this  cannot  be  proved  as  the  text  does  not  give  sufficient 
examples  for  comparison.  Maximilian  gives  in  his  declension 
of  the  noun  numank  (man),  an  ending  ki,  which  is  joined  to  the 
noun  and  is  supposed  to  be  a  sign  of  the  instrumental.  This  is 
found  occasionally  as  an  ending  in  the  text,  and  may  be  a  post¬ 
position  which  has  gradually  become  almost  an  appositional 
case  ending. 

Maximilian  speaks  rather  hazily  of  an  article  and  gives 
several  examples,  but  this  article,  which  is  theoretically  a  suffix, 
seems  very  difficult  to  pick  out,  when  the  postpositions  are 
removed.  No  trace  of  an  article  has  been  found  in  the  text  or 
vocabularies. 

Postpositions  : — Postpositions  are  in  common  use  but  not 
very  many  of  them  can  be  definitely  pointed  out.  The  follow¬ 
ing  are,  however,  certain :  ta= from,  de=of,  oh=to,  askac— near 
to,  pexti— by,  kucta= through,  rokta= in,  untaha=out  of, 
omakake— upon. 

They  may  be  either  joined  to  the  word  which  they  govern  } 
or  separate,  but  usually  immediately  follow  it,  as :  —  mipextinaka 
=sit  by  me.  Egypt  maank  untoha= out  of  the  land  of 
Egypt. 


THE  MANDANS. 


193 


The  postposition  ta  also  occurs  frequently  as  a  verbal  suffix, 
thus  huruc  =  to  come,  and  huta  —  come  here.  In  the  oppo¬ 
site  sense  we  have  eta  added,  which  signifies  motion  in  the  oppo¬ 
site  direction,  as: — Rouhptare  eta  wahuruc  =  I  come  away  from 
Rouhptare. 

The  Adjective: — The  Mandan  adjective  is  found  with  a 
simple  stem  form  and  a  longer  form.  It  is  possible  that  the 
longer  form  was  at  first  a  compound  with  the  verb  kitoc= to 
be,  but  it  has  been  shortened  to  a.  simple  c  or  to  ic,  oc,  uc,  or 
ac.  The  verbal  meaning  does  not  seem  to  be  always  in  force 
with  the  longer  form,  but  it  is  always  permissable  to  use  it 
verbally.  Thus:  cih= good,  macilnc— I  am  good,  nicihc=vou 
are  good,  icihc— he  is  good.  It  is  used  in  the  same  way  with 
the  demonstrative  as:  eQcihc— that  is  good. 

The  adjective  invariably  follows  the  noun  whether  it  has 
the  long  ending  or  not,  and  examples  of  the  two  forms  occur 
side  by  side  with  no  apparent  differentiation  of  meaning,  as : — 
meniss  cotte— white  horse,  menisswarut  psihc=h\&ck  dog. 

The  plural  is  not  as  a  usual  thing  indicated  in  adjectives, 
but  when  the  longer  form  is  used  as  a  verb  the  same  suffixes 
may  be  added  for  pluralization  as  are  used  with  the  noun. 

There  is  a  full  system  of  adjective  comparison  in  the  Man- 
dan,  attained  by  the  addition  of  certain  adverbs  to  the  end  of 
the  adjective.  The  two  adverbs  used  are  opaxadehc= more, 
and  mihkac=z most.  So  cihc  =  good,  cihopaxadehc  —  better, 
cihmihkac=best.  Both  forms  were  sometimes  added  to  a 
word  merely  for  emphasis,  as: — passa"hekociiopaxadehmihkac 
=the  most  beautiful  river. 

Other  examples  of  adjective  comparison  are  cirukoc=wise , 
cirukeopaxadehc—  wiser,  cirukemihkac  =  wisest;  and  hunc= 
much,  hu"opaxadehc— more,  hunmihkac=. most. 

The  use  of  an  adjective  with  two  forms  as  here,  recalls  the 
same  feature  in  Catawba;  thus  cold  is  in  Mandan  cini  and  cini- 
huc ;  in  Catawba  tchin  and  tchinhere. 

Color  adjectives  in  the  Mandan  show  nothing  particularly 
distinctive  and  are  nearly  in  accord  with  those  of  most  of  the 
other  Siouan  languages. 

The  adjectives  in  Mandan  appear  to  be  largely  verbal  in  their 


194 


THE  MANDaNS. 


character  in  that  they  may  be  regularly  inflected  with  the 
pronoun. 

Numerals:- — The  numeration  in  the  Mandan  appears  to  be 
formed  on  a  decimal  system,  but  there  are  points  which  seem 
to  go  against  this.  The  Mandan  numerals  themselves  show 
no  traces  of  the  quinary  system  on  an  ordinary  observation, 
but  when  it  is  seen  that  a  number  of  related  dialects  show 
signs  of  that  method  and  that  a  little  similarity  can  be  traced 
between  these  systems  and  that  of  the  Mandan,  a  doubt  may 
arise  as  to  whether  the  Mandan  enumeration  is  purely  decimal. 
It  must  be  remembered, however, that  the  Catawba  has  a  decimal 
system  and  that  the  Winnebago  seems  to  have  it. 

The  cardinal  numbers  are: — 


1. 

maxana 

6. 

kihma 

2. 

nompah 

7. 

kuhpa 

3. 

nahmeni 

8. 

tettake 

4. 

tohpa 

9. 

maxpe 

5. 

kexu 

10. 

piraq  or  pidaks 

The  cardinals  from  ten  to  twenty  are  formed  by  adding  the 
word  ahga  or  ag  to  the  cardinal,  as: — 

11. 

ahga  maxana 

16. 

ag  kihma 

12. 

ahga  nompah 

17. 

ag  kuhpa 

13. 

ahga  nahmeni 

18. 

ag  tettake 

14. 

15. 

ahga  tohpa 
ahga  or  ag  kexu 

19. 

ag  maxpe 

The  decades  are  formed  by  prefixing  the  cardinals  to  piraq 
(ten)  or  ampiraq 


20.  nompah  piraq 
30.  nahmeni  ampiraq 
40.  tohpe  ampiraq 
50.  kexu  ampiraq 


60.  kihrna  ampiraq 
70.  kuhpa  ampiraq 
80.  tettake  ampiraq 
90.  maxpe  ampiraq 


The  intervening  numbers  are  constructed  thus,  twenty  one= 
nompah  pirake  roll  maxana,  twenty  two —nompah  pirake  roh 
nompah,  etc. 


TH  E  MANDANS. 


195 


According  to  Maximilian  the  same  ending,  c,  found  on  the 
adjective  so  often,  is  also  usually  put  at  the  end  of  the  numerals, 
e.  g.  2>Q—nahmeni  ampirakoc,  4t)—tohpa  ampirakoc,  etc. 

For  the  number  one  hundred,  the  Mandan  had  a  regular 
word,  but  judging  from  the  text  at  hand  this  seems  to  have 
been  corrupted  later  into  the  ‘  ‘  big  ten  ’  ’  of  the  Hidatsa  and 
other  Siouan  languages.  In  1834  the  original  Mandan  for 
one  hundred  was  ehsuk  maxana.  The  Hidatsa  is  pidaki'tia . 

The  hundreds  run  regularly  thus,  200=zehsuk  nompa, 
300 ~ehsuk  nahmeni,  etc.  101  =zehsuk  maxanaroh  nnmpoc,  etc., 
1000  =  isukki  kakohi,  1001  —  isukki  kakohi  roh  maxana, 
1100  =zisukki  ahga  maxanac,  2000 —isukki  kakohi  numpoc, 
10000 =isukki  kakohi  pirakoc  (Maximilian). 

The  cardinal  numerals  are  used  like  the  adjectives  and  follow 
the  words  modified  ;  thus,  ten  commandments=fomfcsa  pidaks. 
The  word  for  one  half  is  ihcanhe. 

The  ordinal  numbers  are  formed  in  about  the  same  way 
that  abstract  nouns  are  formed  from  adjectives,  that  is  the 
syllable  ko  is  prefixed  to  the  cardinal.  In  addition  the  num¬ 
erals  seem  to  add  also  the  syllable  hank  except  in  the  case  of 
first,  which  moreover  is  not  formed  from  the  cardinal.  Accord¬ 
ing  to  Maximilian,  the  ordinals  run  as  follows: — - 

first — koonti 
second — konumpehank 
third — konahmenihank 
fourth — kotohpahank 
thousandth — kosukkikakohihank 

The  syllable  hank  may  be  derived  from  iohanke,  the  word 
for  end.  The  word  for  last  is  formed  with  the  aid  of  the  same 
prefix,  koihkahce. 

The  numeral  adverbs  as  once,  twice,  etc.,  are  formed  as 
follows; once  =xanahre  maxanac, twice— xanahre  numpoc ,  etc. 

The  Adverb: — Of  the  adverb  little  need  be  said;  the 
distinction  between  them  and  the  postpositions  on  one  side  and 
the  adjectives  on  the  other  is  very  difficult  to  make.  In  fact 
adverbs  often  appear  as  little  more  than  modifying  suffixes. 
The  two  adverbs  used  in  comparison  have  been  already 


196 


THE  MANDANS. 


mentioned  and  in  addition  a  few  more  may  be  noted; as, 
takbaktoc— perhaps,  horakekusero= day  before  yesterday;  tenhac 
=afar  off;  matxeomasta =day  after  tomorrow;  askac=. near  to, 
also  used  as  a  postposition;  and  domapeha=he\ow. 

Conjunctions: — The  Mandan  seems  to  show  nothing  note¬ 
worthy  in  the  line  of  conjunctions,  and  so  far  only  a  few  have 
been  noted.  Among  these  are  kani  or  qani— and;  kaktek= and; 
and  kacka— for.  Maximilian  says  that  there  was  no  word  for 
“  or,  ”  indefinite  pronouns  as  kotewektoc= one  or  the  other,  being 
used. 

The  Pronoun  The  pronoun  in  Mandan  is  perhaps  the 
most  important  part  of  the  language.  It  is  of  the  same  type 
as  those  of  other  Siouan  languages  and  closer  relationship 
with  other  Siouan  dialects  is  shown  thus  than  in  any  other 
way.  Pronouns  of  all  the  usual  classes  are  found  and  separable 
and  inseparable  forms  of  the  personal  pronouns  occur. 

Demonstrative  Pronouns: — Of  the  demonstratives  but 
little  can  be  said.  They  are  not  fully  worked  out  and  cannot 
be  so  until  more  text  is  procured.  Maximilian  gives  us  two, 
however,  which  seem  fairly  certain;  these  are  ant= this,  and 
cd=that, andjtheiru.se  is  illustrated  in  the  following  sentences: — 
e6  hackac  =  that  is  great,  antcihc— this  is  good.  Besides  these, 
there  seems  to  be  a  trace  of  the  Dakota  tona  and  de  as  in  the 
compound  demankahe=(?) ,  and  taadona= these. 

Relative  Pronouns: — Of  the  relative  pronouns  more  is 
known.  There  is  a  fairly  long  list  and  the  meaning  of  all  is 
practically  certain.  The  principal  relatives  are  tewe  or  teve, 
who,  kotewe,  which,  ta,  what.  These  furnish  the  basis  for  other 
relatives  as  well  as  for  the  indefinite  pronouns. 

Directly  based  upon  them  are  teweoco = w h oe ve r ,  and  taad- 
ocka— whatever . 

Interrogative  Pronouns: — The  interrogative  pronoun  is 
also  found,  closely  related  to  the  relative.  “What”  or  “  how” 
is  tasxaL.  “What  person”  is  iinkotewe  and  “what  thing”  is 
aankotewe.  “Whose”  is  the  relative  teve,  as  teve  ti  otic?= whose 
house  is  that?  As  canbeseen  theseare  based  upon  the  relatives 
ta  and  tewe. 


THE  MANDANS. 


197 


Indefinite  Pronouns: — The  indefinite  pronouns  also  bear 
a  close  resemblance  to  the  relative  from  which  they  are  likewise 
derived.  The  following  are  the  known  examples ;  tanhe  or  tahonc 
=other,  f&oi!ttf=something,  matewe  or  watewe  =  anything, 
matewedocka— anything  whatever.  Their  use  is  seen  in  mipextit 
matewe  xopini  tanhe  wadakanixinistoc  thou  shalt  have  no  other 
gods  before  me. 

Personal  Pronouns  The  Mandan  personal  pronoun 
seems  to  have  two  different  forms.  These  two  forms  are  the 
incorporated  and  the  independent.  Of  the  incorporated  pro¬ 
noun  the  subjective  form  is  used  as  subject  of  a  transitive  verb; 
the  objective  form  is  used  as  object  of  a  transitive  and  as 
subject  of  an  intransitive  verb.  The  independent  pronoun  is 
formed  from  the  stem  of  the  objective  pronoun  by  means  of 
a  regular  suffix. 


Incorporated  subject 
Singular 

1  wa 

2  da  or  da 

3  i 

Dual  nunompca 

Plural 

1  nu 

2  niada 

3  ia 


Incorporated  object 
Singular 

1  ma  or  mih 

2  ni  or  ih 

3  i  or  ih 

Plural 

1  nu 

2  nia  or  niada 

3  ia  or  iada 


Attention  should  be  called  to  the  presence  in  the  subjective 
series  of  the  dual,  which  also  occurs  in  the  Dakota,  but  seldom 
in  Hidatsa  or  Crow.  The  above  forms  probably  vary  some¬ 
what  in  pronunciation  as  Maximilian  gives  slightly  different 
versions.  It  is  also  probable  that  he  confused  the  objective 
and  subjective  as  the  subjective  forms  given  above  from 
Hayden  seem  to  agree  better  with  the  text  than  do  his. 

The  independent  forms  are: — 

I  miona 
thou  niona 
he  iona 
we  nuona 
you  niaona 
they  iaona 


108 


THE  MANDANS. 


Maximilian  gives  a  table  of  so  called  case  inflections  as  follows :- 


thou  ih 
thine  nita 
to  thee  nih 
thee  (obj.)  nih 


I  ndh 

of  me  mannan 
to  me  mo,  rohdeta 
from  me  roheta 
me  (obj.)  wak 

The  mih  and  ih  are  clearly  the  incorporated  objects,  while 
mannan  and  mo  though  clearly  connected  with  the  pronominal 
stems  are  irregular,  roheta  and  rohdeta  seem  to  lack  entirely 
the  pronominal  roots. 

It  is  probable  that  the  mih  and  ma  or  wa  are  to  some  extent 
interchangeable  for  the  first  person  subject,  although  only  wa 
occurs  in  such  text  as  is  at  hand.  Maximilian,  however,  gives 
one  or  two  examples  of  its  use,  as  in  mihnihrotke,  I  will  strike 
you.  Also  one  with  the  intransitive  verb  as  mannan  ihnkidi- 
cihc,  you  are  ashamed  of  me. 

The  first  example  above  shows  the  use  of  the  regular  objec¬ 
tive  pronominal  incorporation,  as  does  also  wadakanixinixtoc, 
thou'shalt  not  make  to  thyself,  in  which  da  and  ni  stand  respec¬ 
tively  for  subject  and  object.  In  the  transitive  verb  the  sub¬ 
jective  pronoun  invariably  precedes  the  objective. 

A  table  of  the  pronouns  in  transitive  and  intransitive  verbs 
follows. 


Subjective  pronoun  with  transitive  verb: — 
wawarutohc  1  eat 
wadarutohc  you  eat 
ihwarutohc  he  eats 
nunompcarutohc  we  two  eat 
wanurutohc  we  eat 
niaOarutohc  you  eat 
iarutohc  they  eat 


Objective  pronoun  with  intransitive  verb: — 
macihc  I  am  good 
nicihc  you  are  good 
incihc  he  is  good 
nucihc  we  are  good 
niacihc  you  are  good 
iacihc  they  are  good 


THE  MANDANS. 


199 


Possessive  Pronouns:  —  In  the  possessive  pronoun  two 
forms  are  also  found,  the  independent  and  the  prefixed.  Both 
are  formed  from  the  objective  incorporated  pronoun.  They 
are  as  follows: — 


Independent 

Prefixed 

mita 

mi 

nita 

ni 

ita  or  ta 

i  or  iko 

nuta  or  nuetta 

nu 

niata 

nia 

iata 

ia  or  iona 

The  independent  forms  always  precede  the  word  modified 
as  do  also  the  prefixed  forms.  An  example  of  the  latter  follows  : 

minuhanke  my  daughter  minuha“koc  our  daughter 

ninuhanke  thy  daughter  nianuhal,koc  your  daughter 

ikonuhanke  his  daughter  ionanuhaHkoc  their  daughter 

The  Verb: — The  verb  “to  be”  is  kihtoc  and  is  inflected  as 
other  verbs.  It  is  used  largely  with  the  meaning  of  “  to  exist.  ’  ’ 
As  has  been  said  the  adjective  ending  in  c  seems  to  take  the 
place  of  a  substantive  verb  and  kihtoc  is  scarcely  ever  seen' 
“To  be  rich”  is  expressed  thus  —  wakahdahun,  great  riches. 
“I  am  good”  is  merely  macihc,  cihc  being  the  adjective  good. 

In  questions  likewise,  the  substantive  verb  is  usually  omitted 
as  teve  tameniskeric ?  =  whose  horses  are  those?  and  teve  ta 
otic ?  =  whose  house  is  that? 

It  is  noticeable  that  to  the  nouns  also  the  c  is  suffixed  when 
the  substantive  verb  itself  is  omitted,  and  it  is  possible  that 
this  ending  is  a  regular  verbalizing  ending  which  takes  the  place 
of  the  substantive  verb  throughout  the  language.  Further 
investigation  with  additional  text  would  be  necessary  to  verify 
this  however. 

Tense  : —  So  far  four  tenses  have  been  distinguished  in  the 
Mandan  although  it  is  very  possible  that  there  may  be  more. 
Those  noted  are,  present,  future,  an  aorist,  and  a  tense  of  com¬ 
pleted  action. 


200 


THE  MANDANS. 


The  present  tense  is  the  ordinary  form  of  the  verb  and  is 
shown  in  ..such  words  as,  wapusoc,  rutoc,  sakoc,  kta’lhoc,  and 
rapanaruc. 

The  future  is  formed  regularly,  but  with  a  modification  for 
verbs  with  stems  ending  in  t.  The  sign  of  the  future  is  t  and  it  is 
usually  placed  immediately  before  the  final  c  with  its  accom¬ 
panying  vowel,  as  sektoc  from  sekoc  and  wapustoc  from  wapusoc. 
When  the  verb  stem  ends  in  t  however  as  in  rutoc,  a  doubling  of 
the  t  would  fail  to  make  an  audible  distinction  and  an  s  is  placed 
before  the  t  giving  rustoc.  In  some  cases  euphony  requires  other 
changes  which  accompany  the  suffixing  of  the  t  as  in  rapanaruc 
to  rapanaktuc,  and  heric  to  herikitoc.  In  this  ease,  however,  it 
seems  possible  that  the  added  syllable  may  mark  a  different 
tense  idea.  One  verb  was  found  which  did  not  have  the  future 
sign  but  which  Hayden  gave  as  a  future.  This  too  may  have 
been  a  modified  tense;  the  change  as  given  from  present  to 
future  occurs  in  the  last  syllable,  kapkec  becoming  kapkekoc. 
It  is  possible  that  this  latter  form  should  be  kapkektoc  which 
would  coincide  with  the  other  examples. 

What  seems  to  be  an  aorist  is  translated  at  times  by  Hayden 
as  “  to  be  doing  all  the  while  ’  ’  and  at  others  as  a  perfect,  making 
the  distinction  between  the  completed  past  and  this,  by  trans¬ 
lating  the  first  as  “  I  have  done  eating,  ’  ’  the  second  as  “  I  have 
eaten”  clearly  implying  that  the  latter  is  hardly  a  real  perfect. 

The  sign  of  this  tense  is  the  suffixing  of  arnaka  or  amanka 
to  the  verb  stem.  This  causes  certain  other  minorchanges  in  the 
the  word  for  the  sake  of  euphony.  Examples  of  this  appear 
in  the  following  from  wahenduc  meaning  "I  drink.” 


Aorist. 


Present. 


wahenamamakahoc 

Oahendamakahoc 

inhendamakahoc 

nuhendamakahoc 

niahendamakahoc 

iahendamakahoc 


1.  wahenduc 

2.  dahenduc 

3.  i'henduc 

1 .  nuhenduc 

2.  niahenduc 

3.  i" ahenduc 


It  is  seen  that  the  inflection  is  perfectly  regular,  the  extra 
ma  in  the  first  person  being  the  first  personal  pronoun,  the 


THE  MANDANS. 


201 


first  wa  having  become  a  part  of  the  verb  itself  as  in  wakahktoc, 
wasekoc  and  similar  examples.  In  addition  to  the  suffix,  a  con¬ 
sonant  is  placed  before  the  final  syllable  to  prevent  the  occurrence 
of  two  vowels  together.  Indeed  it  almost  appears  as  if  the 
aorist  is  formed  by  adding  amankahoc  to  the  verbal  stem.  This 
holds  true  with  the  verbs  rutoc  and  kapusoc,  with  the  stems  rut 
and  kapus,  giving  rutamankahoc  and  kapusamankahoc. 

The  tense  of  completed  action  seems  to  be  formed  by  adding 
kexeruc  to  the  verbal  stem,  the  pronoun  being  at  the  same  time 
repeated,  occurring  once  before  and  once  immediately  after  the 
stem,  as,  wadahenOakexerus,  thou  hast  done  drinking,  and 
wawarutwakexeruc,  I  have  done  eating;  from  wahenduc,  to  drink 
and  warutoc,  to  eat.  Particular  attention  is  called  to  the  posi¬ 
tion  here  of  the  pronominal  forms  6a  and  wa  at  the  beginning 
of  the  word  and  their  repetition  near  the  middle.  This  peculi¬ 
arity  leaves  the  exact  method  of  forming  the  tense  somewhat 
doubtful,  especially  as  there  are  but  three  or  four  examples  dis¬ 
coverable.  However  the  above  gives  at  least  an  approximation 
of  the  method. 

The  infinitive  in  Mandan  consists  of  the  verb  without  the 
pronominal  affixes,  as  isekoc  and  warutoc.  The  past  participle 
seems  to  be  hard  to  find.  Maximilian  gives  one  example,  kuhruc, 
done,  from  isekoc,  to  do;  in  this  case  the  participle  appears  to 
be  formed  from  another  stem.  In  two  other  cases  the  infinitive 
itself  is  used  as  the  past  participle. 

There  are  two  other  distinguishable  participles,  a  present 
and  an  aorist.  The  present  seems  to  be  little  more  than  the 
verbal  root  thus,  ikha'1  from  ikha'‘hoc,  and  ratxe  from  rataruc. 

The  aorist  participle  seems  to  be  the  regular  aorist  form 
without  the  pronominal  affixes.  Examples  are  isekama"kahoc 
from  isekoc  and  warutamankahoc  from  warutoc. 

Mode:  —  Indicative — This  is  the  original  form  of  the  verb 
with  the  ordinary  pronominal  inflection.  There  are  no  pecul¬ 
iarities  which  require  mention. 

Subjunctive  —  There  seems  to  be  a  sort  of  subjunctive  in  the 
Mandan  the  use  of  which  cannot  be  pointed  out  accurately. 
It  occurs  often  with  the  imperative  in  a  command  but  is  also 


202 


THE  MANDANS. 


found  frequently  in  other  forms.  The  sign  of  this  mode  is  hada 
suffixed  to  the  verb  immediately  after  the  root  or  after  the  pro¬ 
noun  if  that  follows  the  root.  Not  enough  examples  have  been 
collected  to  discover  the  exact  meaning  of  this  form  of  the  verb 
but  the  following  will  give  some  idea  of  its  use. 

huhadata  may  (it)  come. 

waxojrinidahadaxinistoc  thou  mayest  not  honor. 
hedemahadata  save  me  (let  me  be  saved). 
mahadata  let  me. 

This  last  form  gives  hada  as  a  verb  in  itself  and  seems  to 
mark  it  as  a  sort  of  auxiliary. 

Imperative  —  The  Mandan  imperative  has  two  forms,  one 
used  to  women,  the  other  to  men.  The  signs  of  the  imperative 
are  the  suffixes  ta  and  na  joined  to  the  verb  root,  at  times  with 
a  vowel  between  for  the  sake  of  euphony.  Ta  is  used  in  speak¬ 
ing  to  a  man,  na  to  a  woman.  It  is  likely  that  the  first  expresses 
a  request,  the  latter  a  command. 

From  the  verb  rutoc  are  ruta  and  rutana.  From  the  verb 
ratahdsh  are  rata  and  rahana. 

Maximilian  gives  one  or  two  other  forms  also  which  tend  to 
show  a  personal  inflection:  first  person,  warusta,  second  person, 
warutenista. 

This  shows  the  use  of  the  first  person  wa  and  the  second 
person  objective  ni  with  the  imperative. 

Voice: — On  the  question  of  voice  practically  nothing  can 
be  said.  The  text  offers  us  no  examples  of  passives  nor  do 
either  Hayden  or  Maximilian  mention  anything  of  the  sort. 

Number  : — As  has  been  said  the  number  in  the  verb  is  shown 
entirely  by  the  incorporated  pronoun;  further  than  this  no  dis¬ 
tinction  is  necessary  and  none  exists.  We  have  already  seen 
that  singular,  dual,  and  plural  pronominal  forms  are  found  and 
these  are  all  incorporated  into  the  verb. 

Verbal  Inflection  with  Pronominal  Subject:  —  Ex¬ 
amples  of  verbal  inflection  with  the  pronominal  subject  have 
occurred  through  all  the  previous  discussion  and  need  not  be 
further  illustrated. 


THE  MANDANS. 


203 


Verbal  Inflection  with  Pronominal  Object:  —  Exam¬ 
ples  of  the  incorporation  of  the  objective  pronoun  into  the 
verb  are  frequent,  a  number  have  ajready  been  given  in 
treating  the  pronouns  on  page  198  and  a  few  more  follow;  wani- 
rotkec,  I  strike  you;  kisuknihedis,  he  led  thee;  numank  iteruc , 
the  man  kills  him. 

Verbal  Inflection  with  Nominal  Object:  —  This  is 
merely  the  regular  verbal  inflection  with  an  uninflected  noun 
placed  before  it  usually.  Such  are  kohante  warutoc  —  I  eat 
corn,  ptemde  ihrotkec  =  he  hits  the  buffalo. 

Nominalizing  Affixes:  —  Owing  to  the  lack  of  text, 
nominalizing  affixes  have  been  very  difficult  to  isolate,  and 
only  three  can  be  pointed  out  with  certainty.  Two  of  these 
are  prefixes,  one  of  which,  known  through  Maximilian,  was 
confirmed  by  the  text;  and  there  seem  also  to  be  signs  of  a 
suffix,  but  sufficient  examples  were  not  found  to  make  sure. 

The  first  prefix  mentioned  is  wao  or  wado  and  seems  to  be 
akin  to  the  Hidatsa  maadu.  Examples  of  this  are  seen  in  the 
following:  wadorute  =  food,  from  rutoc  =  to  eat;  waosinhe  = 
strength,  from  sinhuc  —  strong;  xuaotes  =  death,  from  tehuc  =to 
kill ;  waoxik  =  sin,  from  xikoc  =  bad. 

The  other  prefix  seems  to  make  an  abstract  noun  from  the 
adjective.  It  is  ko,  and  its  use  is  shown  in  the  following  ex¬ 
amples'.  kocihc  =  the  good,  from  cihc  —  good;  koahxkereh — 
the  poor,  from  ahxkereh  =  poor ;  kowakahde  —  the  rich,  from 
wakahde  =  rich. 

The  apparent  example  of  a  suffix  seems  to  indicate  the 
nomen  actoris.  The  only  instance  of  its  use  is  in  wanundexte 
thief,  from  wanunduc  =  to  steal.  The  ending  xte  occurs  else 
where  as  an  augmentative  as  in  mini,  water,  minixte,  the 
ocean,  and  seems  related  to  the  Hidatsa  ic  ’tia,  big,  being  used 
in  much  the  same  way. 

The  Negative:  —  The  negative  "no”  in  Mandan  is  meqoc 
and  "yes”  is  hon.  These  are  clearly  given  in  all  the  vocabu¬ 
laries.  The  formation  of  the  negative  verb,  however,  is  nowhere 
discussed  by  previous  writers.  The  sign  of  the  negative  seems 
to  be  ni  suffixed  to  the  verb  immediately  before  the  common 


204 


THE  MANDANS. 


ending  in  c  or  the  tense  sign  if  it  is  present,  and  recalls  the 
Dakota  negative  cni.  In  some  cases,  however,  it  seems  to  be 
modified  by  what  appears  to  be  reduplication,  although  this 
latter  on  a  more  extensive  study  of  the  verb  might  prove  to 
perform  an  entirely  different  function.  Certain  sound  shifts 
also  occur  occasionally  as  in  previous  examples  of  suffixing 
but  do  not  change  the  verb  noticeably.  Examples  of  the 
negative  ni  alone  are  found  in  the  following :  ivadarutenihoc  = 
you  do  not  eat,  from  wadarutoc— you  eat;  voawakanixtoc  —  I  shall 
not  have,  from  wawakaxtoc  =  I  shall  have;  and  wawahenihoc  = 
I  do  not  drink,  from  wawahenduc  —  I  drink. 

Examples  of  negatives  which  seem  to  show  some  sort  of 
reduplication  are  as  follows;  wcidakanixinistoc  —  thou  shalt  not 
have,  from  wadakaxtoc  =  thou  shalt  have;  waidasikinixinistoc  = 
thou  shalt  not  make  to  thyself,  from  waidasektoc  =  thou  shalt 
make ;  waxopinidahadaxinistoc  =  thou  mayest  not  hold  as  sacred 
for  thyself.  In  all  these  forms  there  is  also  a  reflexive  of  some 
sort  and  it  may  be  that  the  seeming  reduplication  is  merely  a 
reflexive  form.  Further  text  might  clear  up  these  points  and 
bring  to  light  in  addition  a  reflexive,  but  at  present  it  can 
only  be  said  that  ni  is  the  negative  sign  but  often  appears  with 
what  seems  to  be  a  reduplication. 

Intensive  Particle:  —  The  intensive  particle  “very” 
seems  to  be  expressed  by  an  adverb,  kucoc.  This  seems  to  be 
used  either  before  or  after  the  modified  word  with  no  apparent 
distinction.  In  very  bad,  xik  kucoc,  it  is  found  after  the  adjec¬ 
tive;  in  kuce  cihc,  very  good,  it  precedes  the  adjective.  When 
the  particle  follows  the  adjective  the  ending  of  the  latter  seems 
usually  to  be  dropped. 

Composition: —  Derivation  —  Among  primitive  languages 
derivation  is  often  easy  to  trace  and  this  is  true  in  the  Mandan. 
The  ideas  were  at  first  simple  and  the  vocabulary  small.  As 
the  people  developed  in  experience  new  names  were  required 
and  instead  of  devising  new  words  old  ones  were  modified  to 
fit.  A  good  example  of  this  is  ivatuc,  copper,  from  which  came 
watucseda,  brass,  watuc  code,  silver,  and  other  forms  for  metals. 

Mana,  wood  or  tree,  gives  manasuk,  ( mana ,  tree  and  suk, 


THE  MANDANS. 


205 


child),  meaning  bush,  also  manaroxte,  forest.  Warade,  fire, 
gives  wararakce,  firebrand,  and  warakapidihe,  flame. 

Again  from  po,  fish,  comes  the  word  for  fin,  posi,  literally 
fish-feather.  From  the  word  wad,  white  men,  comes  the  word 
for  flour,  wadta.  Mini,  water,  also  gives  a  number  of  deriva¬ 
tives  among  which  are  the  words  for  flood,  minisukhedic ,  and 
for  bank,  miniwakaxta.  From  tohe,  blue  comes  vriratohe,  green. 

Compound  nouns  —  There  is  no  lack  of  compound  nouns  in 
the  Mandan  and  their  formation  is  the  same  as  in  English,  the 
modifying  word  coming  first. 

From  d,  foot,  and  psih,  black,  comes  Blackfeet,  Cipsih- 
Poikinnih,  fish-hook,  is  a  compound  similar  to  the  English  one. 
Bird,  mandek,  with  the  word  for  young  animals,  nixe,  gives  egg, 
mandenike.  The  elm  is  called  bow-wood,  manawaraerup. 
For  grandfather  we  get  tatedke,  old  father. 

The  Mandan  personal  names,  which  always  had  a  meaning, 
were  often  represented  by  very  long  compounds  as  were  many 
of  the  society  names. 

Composite  verbs: — The  compounding  of  one  verbal  stem 
with  another  is  not  a  very  common  feature  in  the  Mandan  but 
can  be  plainly  noticed  in  a  number  of  examples.  There  are 
probably  other  cases  which  cannot  be  distinguished  among  the 
long  verbal  forms,  as  the  separate  stems  are  not  known.  Besides 
this  doubling  of  verb  stems  there  is  also  an  incorporation  of 
nouns  into  the  verb  in  order  to  complete  the  meaning. 

Actual  double  stems  occur  in  the  following  examples;  I  shall 
come  and  sit  down,  wahunawaxkanakoc,  huruc,  to  come,  and 
kanake,  to  sit;  I  decoy,  wattaxahhuruc,  litterally,  I  call  to  come; 
I  fast,  nahnkawawarutenexoc,  literally,  sit  I  eat  not ;  Maximilian 
gives  “to  shoot  at,”  as  ohxatakerehuc,  and  translates  it,  “he 
has  gone  away  wounded;”  to  sleep  is  hanaruc,  to  fall  asleep, 
wahanaeduksahuc . 

Examples  of  compounding  with  nouns  are :  to  smoke, 
manacxinduc,  tobacco  to  smoke;  to  scrape,  unkaheric,  fingers  to 
rub;  to  swim,  miniputxuhuc,  water  to  push. 


In  the  foregoing  an  attempt  has  been  made  to  present  a 
sketch  of  the  grammatical  construction  of  the  Mandan  language 


206 


THE  MANDANS. 


by  gathering  together  all  published  materials  and  adding  a 
number  of  points  gained  from  a  study  of  texts  and  vocabularies. 
Many  features  however  remain  to  be  cleared  up  and  with  further 
text  material  a  great  deal  might  be  added  to  our  knowledge  of 
the  language. 

A  few  tables  of  comparison  with  other  Siouan  dialects  are 
appended  in  order  to  give  some  idea  of  the  position  which  Man- 
dan  occupies  within  the  stock. 


INDEPENDENT  PRONOUNS. 

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POSSESSIVE  PREFIXED  FORMS 


VOCABULARY. 


This  vocabulary  has  been  compiled  from  those  taken  down  by  Catlin,  Maximilian, 
Hayden,  Morgan  and  Schoolcraft.  All  the  different  words  were  gathered  together, 
and  were  then  transliterated  into  a  uniform,  phonetic,  spelling,  corresponding  with 
the  alphabet  used  in  the  grammatical  sketch.  Where  different  forms  were  given  for 
the  same  word,  the  form  adopted  has  been  that  most  in  accordance  with  the  phonetic 
character  of  the  language.  This  has  usually  resulted  in  an  agreement  with  the  forms 
as  given  by  Maximilian. 


A. 

abode  —  iwakeuntuc 
above  —  aketa 
afar  off  —  tenhae 
affection  —  paxade 
aim,  to  —  mitahruc 
alive  —  nankec 
all  —  anbe 
alone  —  iixa 
always  —  ama"kahuc 
ambassador  —  kasedehe 
ampelis  (a  bird)  —  ohpakot.ika 
and  —  kani  or  qani 
animal  —  wahokcukke 
ankle  —  tauihhankac  or  asoh- 
keninde 

antelope  —  koka 

‘  ‘  buck  —  kokberoke 
ants  —  karasisitka 
anything  —  itaskacka  or  itaskacLa 
Arapahoe  Inds.  —  Arapahoes  or 
Axixte  Numankake 
Ark  (of  first  man)  —  mahminituxe 
arms  —  ahde 

arm  bands,  of  metal  —  u“kita"he 
arrow  —  malilia 
as  far  as  —  ohdada 
ash  —  tabsa 
(209) 


ashes  —  waracunte 
ask  —  kiimahxeo 
Assiniboine  Inds.  —  Hosika 
aunt  —  kohtmini-kohc 
aurora  borealis  —  wawawacirute 
autumn  —  ptande  or  manaahpo 
axe  —  ohmanate 

B. 

baby  —  sukxamahe 

back  —  nupxe 

backwards  —  nacita 

bad  —  xikoe 

Bad  Lands  —  see  land 

badger  —  mahteke 

ball  (of  lead)  —  wahtoeemahe 

hall  or  play  ball  —  mihptohtkic 

bake  —  rokinni 

bank  —  miniwakaxte 

bark  —  manaa 

basket  (women ’s,  of  leather)  —  xe- 
hank 

bat  —  hahxurahde 
to  be  —  kihtoc 
beak  —  paxu 
beans  —  ominikekene 
bear  —  mahto 

bear,  grizzly  —  mato  unknapininde 
beard  —  hikerukis 


210 


THE  MANDANS. 


beaver  —  warahpa 
beautiful  —  cihe 
bed  —  omunkasekoc 
before  —  untihedic 
behind  —  nacitero 
behold  —  hanista 
belly  —  ahxi 
below  —  mapita 
belt  —  ihparaxe 
berdash  —  mihdeke 
besmooch  —  tkapoaheric 
best  —  kocihc 
between  —  nasta 
beyond  —  kuta 
birch  —  wahxoc 
bird  —  mandek 
bite  —  nacec 
bitter  —  pahruc 
black  —  psihc 
blackbird  —  tuxika 
Blackfeet  Inds.  —  Cipsi 
bladder  —  idaxe 
blind  —  istaxedetoe 

i 

blond  —  pahinsihduc 

blood  —  ida 

bloody  —  ihkerrede 

bloom,  to  —  hohsedehoc 

bloom  on  fruit  —  ratakoc 

blue  —  tohe 

bluff,  a  —  kucapehckac 

body  —  maandac 

bog  —  manixte 

bone  —  ahude 

both  —  nompca 

bottle  (of  leather)  —  ihduke 

bow  or  bend,  to  —  kiskoppoheric 

bow  —  waraeruhpa 

bow-lance  —  eruhpahixte 

box  —  widake 

box-elder  —  mihnxkatahmanaka 

bov  —  suknumank 

braid,  to  —  kackec 

brains  —  natenu 

branch  —  ohxanxa 

brandy  —  minipahre 

brass  —  watucsede 


brave  —  kakahonc,  xarake 
bread  —  wapabci 
break  —  pehruc 
breast  —  taxaraxe 
breath  —  onihe 
breechclout  —  mike 
bridge  —  manaaxkinihnde 
bridle  —  menissikaske 
brilliant  (splendid)  —  eduxtuk 
bring  forth  —  ehtuc 
broad  —  pxihruc 
brook  —  passankcuk 
broom  —  inkagicka 
brother  —  mo"ka 
brown  —  tkop 
bud  —  acinkoc 
buffalo  —  ptemde 
‘  ‘  (bull)  —  beroke 
bullet  pouch  —  assohkaxeruke 
burn  (or  roast)  —  naxuhduc 
burn  —  raptec 
bury  —  omahxedeherec 
bush,  a  —  manasuk 
buttocks  —  ilita 
buy,  to  —  kauikahka 
by  —  pexti 

by  and  by  —  isakanacoc 

C. 

cache  —  moxe 

call  —  rulceric 

calm  —  ihpataheckac 

Cannonball  R.  —  Passauxte 

canoe  —  menanka 

captive  —  inishedic 

captured  —  ihnise 

carrion  —  kommahe 

catfish  —  potande 

charcoal  —  behxe 

cheat,  to  —  manoxaharuc 

chew,  to  —  rapsahkoe 

Cheyenne  Inds.  —  Tamalio"ruck 

chicken  (prairie)  —  sipuska 

chief  —  numankci 

child  —  sukxamahe 

chin  —  ihku 


THE  MANDANS. 


211 


choke,  to  —  niheohwaptec 
chop  down  —  manakaseheric,  paui- 
cohc 

circle,  a  —  ohkamickakuc 

claw  —  unkahe 

clean,  to  —  ihkixkanhuc 

clear  the  throat,  to  —  hauikisckuc 

clear  —  dexe,  karacekoc 

cloud  —  liaade 

coat  —  imacote 

cold  —  cinihuc 

colibri  —  manacopkoxaxka 

colt  —  unpamenissinikac 

comb  —  paiwaxunke 

come,  to  —  huruc,  kuhohc 

come  here  —  huta 

comfort,  to  —  kehapheric 

comfortable  —  ohmanakacic 

compel,  to  —  si1’hiukehde 

complete  —  wakinkoc 

completely  —  ratakoc 

conciliate,  to  —  herohkaheric 

cook,  to  —  umpec 

copper  —  wat'ucsekeri 

corn  —  kohante 

‘  ‘  meal  —  mapexeri 
corpse  —  watehhede 
costly  —  icahehonc 
cottonwood  —  manawaxe 
cough  —  kokeruke 
council  fire  —  kaheruka  warade 
“  house  —  kaheruka  kahur 
count,  to  —  pakirihduc 
cover  —  ahkupoc 
cowardly  —  wakaraxkahc 
crane  —  tehreke 
Cree  Inds.  — ■  Cahi 
crooked  —  skophoc 
Crow  Inds.  —  Hehderuka 
crow  —  xohxixaka 
crush  —  rusi”koc 
cry,  to  — sarahruc,  rataxoc 
cryingallthe  while  —  ratuxeama" — 
kahoc 

cure,  to  —  kinikohc 
curly  —  minimenihc 


cut,  to  —  pawecuc 
cutting  —  pohkha” 

D. 

Dakotas  —  Hahenumankoc 
dance  —  wahnape 

scalp-dance  —  wikskekenahpic 
dark  —  hampaheriskah 
daughter  —  sukmihuc 

in-law  — ptauihhangkac 
day  —  hampah,  kacekoc 
dead  —  otehruc 
deaf  —  nakoesidikoc 
death  —  waotec 
deceive  —  kauxac 
decoy,  to — wat.taxakhuhroc 
deer  — mahmanaku 
“  (black  tail)  —  cumpsi 
delay,  to  —  ohikahunwaheric 
destroy,  to  —  kimixerec,  tedepohc 
Devil  (Evil  Spirit)  —  Omahank- 
xike 

dew  —  beddede 

die  —  teruc 

dirty  —  waratkeric 

disappear  —  kcipoc 

dish  (wooden)  —  manapaxe 

distant  —  tehane 

divide  — ihkapehduc 

do,  to  —  isekoc 

dog  —  menisswarut 

door  —  bedehe 

doubled  —  nahtac 

draw  —  inisuc 

dream,  to  —  xikhedehc 

drink,  to  —  heuduc 

drive,  to  —  koxehrutoc 

drop  —  sehuc 

drum  —  berexe 

dry,  to  —  sahkoc 

dry  up,  to  — rasakoc 

duck  —  patohe 

dull  —  sukohc 

dumb  —  wahronexa 

dung  (of  an  animal)  —  elide 

dust  —  warate 


212 


THE  MANDANS. 


E-. 

eagle,  war  —  mahxsi 
bald  —  patake 
ears  —  nakoha 
early  —  wamampsita 
eat,  to  —  warutoc 
egg  —  mandeksuknike 
elbow  —  akcicenahde 
elevation  —  maaxte 
elk  —  ompa 

female  —  ompa  mihkac 
elm  —  manawareruhp 
empty  —  okikohe 
end  —  onakeoha"kte 
enemy  —  wirata"de 
enough  —  antexkac 
err,  to  —  xiqaheric 
escape  —  pteliec 
evening  —  istundehuc 
everywhere  —  ekunheakskewaheric 
eyelid  —  istarapxe 
eyes  —  ista 

explain,,  to  —  ikikuhntec 
express,  to  —  ihkastat  uc 

F. 

face  —  estah 
fade,  to  —  daxihdue 
fall,  to  —  dopxec 
fan  —  ihkerehedite 
far  —  ruhxedeta 

fasting  —  nahnkawawarutenexoc 
fat  —  sihnde 
‘  ‘  melted  —  ihkeri 
father  —  tate 
fear  —  wohkaraxka 
feather  —  si 

“  headdress  —  wokiruc 
feel  —  packatuc 

female  (of  an  animal)  —  mihkac, 
mika 

fetch  —  kitahuc,  kixkararuc 

few  —  sankac 

file,  a  —  watuciwipuci 

fight,  to  —  sahnduc 

fin  —  posi 


find,  to  —  onopohe 
fingers  —  unkahe 

first  —  unkamihe 
middle  —  unknatkakanaxka 
fourth  —  unknatsemingke 
“  little  —  unkniingke 
fire  —  warade 
firebrand  —  wararakce 
fish  —  po 

to  —  pohrupcikohc 
fisher  (a  bird)  —  iitikpsi 
fish-hook  —  poikinnih 
fist  —  onkirasanake 
flank  (of  the  body)  —  dopicanlie 
flat  —  pcihde 

flatter,  to  —  ihkiriahkawacuc 
flea  —  pecki 
flesh  —  oro 
flint  —  mahikcuke 
flood,  to  —  minisukhedic 
flour  —  wacita 
flower  —  osedelie 
fly,  a  —  hamparaka 
‘  to  —  kikarehdue 
foam  —  puxte 
fog  —  masihc 
follow  —  waxahuc 
food  —  worute 
foolish  —  oxkac 
foot  —  ci 

forehead  —  ithake 
forest  —  manaroxte 
forget,  to  —  ikihanxikac 
forks  (of  a  tree)  —  manaokisa"ka 
foul  —  natkaxihpoc 
fox  —  irute 
“  gray  —  hirutcote 
“  red  —  hirutse 
“  black  —  hirutpsih 
“  prairie  —  ohxa 
free  —  wainihsinixoc 
freeze  —  ktahohc 
friend  —  manuka 
frog  —  psanka 
frost  —  istunhewahetuhc 
full  —  ohihc 


THE  MANDANS. 


213 


G. 

gall  —  waxsihde 

gay-colored  —  puhse 

girl  —  sukmihe 

gloves  —  ogixitike 

go,  to  —  dehuc 

go  forth  —  huhketa 

God  —  Omahank  Numankci 

gold  —  watacisidegocikeric 

good  —  cihc 

goose  —  mi  ha11 

“  wild  —  mihankcuke 
grandfather  —  tatecike 
grandmother  —  nancike 
Grand  River  —  Waracunt  Ptassahe 
grass  —  xanxe 

‘ 1  dried  (hay)  —  xanxesakoc 

‘  ‘  sharp  (thistles) —  xancixena 

gray  —  xote,  cote 
grease  —  ikeri 
great  —  xtec 

Great  Spirit  —  Maxopinita 
green  —  wiratohe 
groan,  to  —  inihe 
ground  —  manpeteroh 
grow,  to  —  inihnduc 
growl,  to  —  xanahhahoc 
gull  —  ixtikpsih 
gun  —  eruhpa 

H. 

hail  —  rakanande 

hail,  to  —  rapanaruc 

hair  —  pahin 

hairless  —  paheserokoc 

hair  ornament  —  itahwacungke 

half  —  ihxanhe 

hand  —  onka 

handsome  —  cinacuc 

hard  —  kahsec 

hark  —  hanta 

hate,  to  —  worattehuc 

have,  to  —  wakahktoc 

hawk  —  tetanhe 

he  —  i,  ih 


head  —  pan 
head-ache  —  panahruc 
head-dress  (of  feathers)  —  mahxsi 
akubhacka 

head  ornament  —  panokatkape 
heary  to  —  waec 
heart  —  natka 
heat,  to  —  manasinkoc 
heaven  —  xaretohoc,  maxopeni- 
omanke 
heavy  —  t’kac 
heel  —  cirute 
help,  to  —  ohtawasakuc 
hereafter  —  hanka 
hide,  to  —  axawehc 
high  —  wahkoruc 
highlands  —  mahankwaihkoruc 
hill  —  oparace 
hist  or  hush  —  ihampta 
hoarse  —  hohxikoc 
hole,  cavity  —  opohpuc 
hollow  —  xowokoc 
hoof  —  cahhe 
hope,  to  —  iwatehruc 
horns  —  anse 

horse  —  meniss  or  umpameniss 

hot  —  dsacoc 

house  —  oti 

hunger,  to  —  waruhtec 

hunt,  a  —  cante 

“  to  —  wahnundehuc  or  can- 
terehuc 

hunter  —  kacanteka 
hurrah  —  ukahe 
hurricane  —  cextec 
husband  —  ibero 

I. 

ice  —  xode 
in  —  rokta 
inquire  —  kimaxec 
intoxicate,  to  —  russidihruc 
iron  —  watucemahe 
island  —  witka 
it  —  unt 
itch  —  ciruha 


214 


THE  MANDANS. 


J. 

jaw  —  dohhupa 
joy  —  nettkacic 

K. 

kettle  —  biruxe 
kettle-tender  —  kapexka 
kidneys  —  piksukeh 
kill  —  teheruc 
kindle  —  rapteheric 
kinikineck  —  manasaxka 
Kiowa  Inds.  —  Kaiwa 
knee  —  inta  or  sapaxe 
knife  —  manhi 
knock  —  wahuhde 
know,  to  —  ihwahekoc 

L. 

lake  —  minixte 
lame  —  onindexikoc 
lament,  to  —  nahdeiratahuc 
lance  —  manahiterukcuke 
land  —  maank 

Bad  Lands  —  maxiki 
lash,  to  —  karaparacuc 
last  race  (in  Okeepa)  —  ehkenah- 
kanahpik 

late  —  hapetepanic 
laugh  —  kikidacoc 
lay,  to  —  makherehc 
lead  —  watucamahe  (Cf.  iron) 
leader  (of  a  war  party)  —  karok- 
kanakah 

leap,  to  —  pedelic 
leather  (dressed)  —  wapa"piimac- 
ote 

leaves  —  manape 

left,  on  the  —  nususkac 

leg  —  dohka 

leggings  —  wapa"pihu"ci 

level  —  kaliosta,  opcidecic 

lie,  to  —  cehekohc 

life  —  nankec 

lift,  to  —  ruhxopkac 

light  —  idehuc 

1  ight,  to  —  ihdexewaharic 


lightning  —  xeninde 
like,  to  —  watihkidasuc 
lips  —  ihxdopxi 

listen  to,  minnakocwakerupcec 

Little  Missouri  R.  —  Mantaktcuka 

live,  to  —  inihuc 

liver  —  pi 

log  —  manaite 

long  —  hac-ka 

love,  to  —  paxare 

love  sticks  —  mihhirucekehkaruc 

lungs  —  koppehk 

lvnx  —  matoxka,  cuntepuse 

M. 

magpie  —  wihkxakxeke 
man  —  numank 

mankind  or  people  —  numankahkec 
many  —  hanktec 

master  of  the  Okeepa  —  okipa- 
kasika 

meal  (Indian)  —  kohante  gatiriki 
meat  —  maskape 
medicine  —  xopinic 

‘  *  lodge  —  tixopinic 
‘  ‘  feast  —  maxopinicwahedic 
medicine-man  —  numankxopinic 
melt,  to  —  racedehc 
midnight  —  istunatoc 
mine  —  wawakahruc 
mink  —  monika  suntike 
mirror,  a  —  ihminkiec 
miss,  to  —  kakaho"c 
Missouri  R.  —  Mantahe  Passahe 
moccasins  —  humpa 
mole  —  maxtopka 
money  —  okihkikidasuc 
moon  —  istamenahke 
moose  —  paxuptaptax 
more  —  opaxedehc 
morning  —  mampsita 

“  earljr  in  —  wamampsita 
mortar  —  ipeke 
most  —  mihkac 
mother  —  hunde 

‘  ‘  in-law  —  ptohinix 


THE  MANDANS. 


215 


mountain —  maankxtec,  oparacxtec 

mouse  —  mihtike 

mouth  —  ihe 

much  —  kerexe,  hunc 

mud  —  tuntukoc 

Muddy  R.  (Platte)  —  Matulmtu 
Passahe 

mule  —  cumpsimeniss 
murder  —  tehruc 
muskrat  —  cantcuke 
Musselshell  R.  —  Tohki  Passahe 

N 

nails  —  onkahe 
name  —  dase 

nape  of  the  neck  —  nahkute 

narrow  —  kcukoc 

navel  —  doptasu 

near  —  askac 

neck  —  itaenu 

necklace —  warap'eninxe 

“  of  bears’  claws  —  mahto- 
onknapinihude 

needle  —  mihstuhereohopetuhc 
negros —  wacipsi 
nest  —  taxande 
net,  fish  — •  poikuhnde 
nettle  —  xa"higanade 
never  —  mekimikoc 
new  —  nankac 
night  —  estogr 
night-jar  —  pihska 
no  —  megoc 
noon  —  hampenatoc 
north  —  misiahankta 
northeast  —  misihanktaropuc- 
ahankta 

northwest  —  agahanktarotamisa 
hankta 
nose  —  pahu 
nostril  —  pahxusuh 
nothing  —  mikska,  mikohc 
now  —  naka 
nude  —  ikarasuninakoc 

O. 

oak  —  manaitahu 


obscure  —  ihinikoc 
of  or  from  —  ta 
oh !  —  ca ! 
old  —  xihoc 

old  man  —  waratohkaxihoc 

old  woman  —  rokankaxihen 

Omaha  Inds.  —  Ohmaha 

once  —  xanahremaxanac 

one  or  the  other  —  kotewektoc 

open  —  rupcukoc 

opened  —  rupcuk 

other  —  tahonc 

otter  —  pehxtekeh 

Ottoe  Inds.  —  Ohto 

outside  —  matinda 

oversleep, to  —  owakinatekahunhuc 

owl  —  ixixe 

P. 

paddle  —  ipaxaka 
pain  —  wahuhdenahduc 
paint  over,  to  —  wakapusoc 
pair  —  nupca 

palate  —  nutiskeokissangka 
pale,  to  —  sterukeceh 
panther  —  cuntehacka 
parfleche  —  wakexde 
part  —  okape 
pasture  —  pokanahhuc 
path  —  nanko 

Pawnee  Inds.  —  Xaratenumanke 
peace  —  herohkaheric 
peas  —  omeniasamakeri 
pelican  —  nutkuxte 
people  —  wakahde 
pepper  — waparepsi 
perhaps  —  tuchaktoc 
pig  —  wacitamato 
pigeon,  wild  —  warawitkcuke 
pinch,  to  —  ruhckapuc 
pine  —  manaxopini 
pipe  —  tcudka,  ihkinkosuhe 
plain  —  xahoste 
plant,  to  —  wahkihedeic 
play,  to  —  menixeni 
“  a  —  kehni 


216 


THE  MANDANS. 


play,  (of  women  with  ball)  —  mih- 
ptotke 

play ,  (Tchungkee)  —  Skohpe 
plover  —  miniswakahe 
pluck,  to  —  paxke 
pointed  —  cihuc 
pole-cat  —  co"kte 
pomme  blanche  —  mahe 
pond  —  minixedoc 
poor  —  akarihe 
porcupine  —  pahi 
pot,  of  clay  —  berexe 
potato  —  omenikatekxteqeri 
powder  (gun)  —  waracunte 
prairie  —  okaraxta 
precipice  —  peliuc 
pregnant  —  ehxixte 
proud  —  tahuixtecihkeric 
pulse  —  katinktinkkanaqic 
pumpkin  —  kode 

‘  ‘  (uncooked) —  kodeseharutoc 
pupil  (of  the  eye)  —  istarupxe 
push  —  putkec 

put  in  the  cache,  to  —  moxdarah- 
koc 

Q. 

queue  —  pahinokskec 
quiet  —  hapoeherohnknunihuc 
quirt  —  ihkaparace 
quiver  —  ixtike 

R. 

rabbit  —  maxtike 
race —  ptihi"kikeruc 
rain  —  xeliuc 

“  to  —  liaiduc 
rainbow  —  xehikuhnde 
Rampart  Creek  —  Manahmeni  Pas- 
sahe 

rat  —  mihtikxte 
rattle  —  ihnade 
raven  —  kaka 
red  —  sukse,  sehc,  se 
redden,  to  —  stasehereh 
reed  —  wihpuhde 
reek  —  wiha 
refuse,  to  —  ruhkahuc 


returned  —  kiride 

revenge,  to  —  tauihcahetunc 

ribs  —  duthuhde 

rich  people  —  kowakahdehunc 

ring,  to  —  nihe 

ripe  —  manabihdukeihlcamenihude 

river  —  passahe,  passanhe 

robe  —  mahitu,  mihihe 

robin  —  mandekanka 

rock  —  misanake 

‘  ‘  large  —  misanakextec 
‘  ‘  (cliff)  —  ihcancekeh 
Rocky  Mts.  —  Mihnde  Manke 
roe  (fish)  —  ponika 
root  —  manahisse 
rosin  —  ohruckop 
rot,  to  --  terrepoc 
round  —  sanakohc 
run  —  ptehuc 

S. 

sack  (of  skin)  —  ihwatarake 

sacrifice  —  wapaci 

saddle,  of  a  horse  —  menissaganake 

saliva  —  oksohke 

salt  or  sugar,  to  —  skuhoc 

salt  or  sugar  —  waskucote 

sand  —  mapucakohc 

sandstone  —  wipuci 

sash  —  ixparake 

scaffold,  for  dead — ohrnaxe,  macote 
scale  —  posi 
scalp  —  pandopxi 

scalp-dance  —  pandopxinapic,  wihs- 
kekenahpic- 
scar  —  oxatuhc 
scent,  to  —  ihkameninduc 
scrape  —  onkaheric 
scraper,  for  hides  —  ihwadipka 
sea  —  minikerre 
seat  —  ita 
secretly  —  axawehc 
see  —  wahec 
shadow  —  ahkunc 
shake,  to  —  katidiricuc 
shallow  —  minipsikac 


THE  MANDANS. 


217 


sharp  —  cihuc 
shave,  to  —  hikirukes 
she  —  ih 

sheep  (bighorn)  —  ansaxte 
shield  —  wahki 
shin  bone  —  dopkahge 
ship  —  menankaxte 
shirt  -y-  imacote 

“  buckskin — wapanhi  imacote 

shiver,  to  —  kaxohkaharawahankic 
shoot,  to  (with  gun)  —  eruhpakahte 
“  “  (with  bow)  —  mananah- 

nihnduc 

short  —  sanakoc 

shot  pouch  —  watuceduke 

shoulder  —  akit 

show,  to  —  hehmenihedic 

shrub  —  manasuke 

shut  against, to  —  ikisanpac 

sick  —  ahxenaduc  ' 

sieze  —  wacakoc 

silver  —  watucoeote 

sinew  —  hise 

sing,  to  —  wakikinaruc 

sister  —  tamixena 

‘  ‘  (eldest)  —  menuke 
‘  ‘  (youngest)  —  ptanka 
sit,  to  —  kikanake 
skin  —  dopxi 
skin  lodge  —  tihinkoti 
sledge  —  manawiratohe 
sleep,  to  —  hanaruc 

'  ‘  to  fall  to  —  wahanaeduksan- 
huc 

sleepy  —  hanaruk 
slide,  to  —  pacihuc 
small  —  xamahe 
smallpox  —  xedepe 
smoke  —  hihuc 

“  to  —  manachihnduc 
smooth  —  sanhic 
“  to  —  kasa”hic 
Snake  or  Slioshone  Inds.  —  Wah¬ 
ki  ruxkanumanke 
snake  —  wahxkeruxka 
‘  1  rattle  —  mataxopini 


sneak  upon,  to  —  xeruhradehuc 

snipe  —  marexsepaguxanxska 

snow  —  wahe 

snow-shoes  —  manahumpe 

soldier  —  kawakarakaxe 

something  —  ikotui 

son  —  konike 

son-in-law  —  rohliankoc 

sour  —  haruc 

spark  —  waranihka 

speak  —  rohdec 

spear  —  manaitirutcuke 

spirits  or  ghosts  —  munoheka 

spoon  (of  horn)  —  manse 

spread,  to  —  pxiheric 

spring,  to  —  skec 

spring,  a  —  minihini 

spring  (season)  —  behinunde 

spy  out,  to  —  oksohkuc 

squash  —  rode 

squint  —  istakxekohc 

stab,  to  —  rapec 

stain,  to  —  ahksehuc 

stars  —  xkaka 

‘  ‘  shooting  —  rokankadehuc 
steal  —  wanunduc 
step-father  —  ptutt 
step-mother  —  ptehinx 
stick  or  pole  —  manakcuke 
stingy  —  cirukoc 
stirrup  —  menissiwaxungke 
stomach  or  belly  —  taxaraxe 
stone  —  misanake 

‘  ‘  large  —  mindextec 
stone  (of  a  fruit)  —  tsuhnta 
stop  up,  to  —  patarokoc 
storm  —  hampexikoc  (a  bad  day) 
straight  —  eohruc 
stream  —  minixcakoc 
strike,  to  —  rotkec 
strong  —  sinhuc 
struggle,  to  —  rahpuc 
stump  —  manahuta 
sugar  (white)  —  waskucote 
summer  —  raskeke 
surprise  —  wahetex 


218 


THE  MANDANS. 


swallow,  to  —  ocaropoe 
swan  —  madexopni 
sweat,  to  —  dasinkohc 
sweep,  to  —  ipkukieuc 
sweet  —  skuhoc 
swift  —  katucoc 
swim,  to  —  ihwaxahac 
swollen  —  pahoc 
sun  —  menahka 

T. 

tail  —  conte 
tallow  — ■  sinde 
tan  (or  dress),  to  —  ruhintuc 
tangle  up,  to  —  ihkirumenic 
Tattooed  Face  (village  name)  —  His- 
toppe 

teach,  to  —  ikikuhnta 
tears  —  istaminihuhruc 
tear  out,  to  —  packe 

‘  ‘  down,  to  —  ohsehruc 
‘  ‘  up,  to  —  ruxankoc 
testicle  —  asutka 
Teton  It.  —  Minixte  Passahe 
that  —  ed 
thaw  —  racedehuc 
there  —  etta 
they  —  iona  or  ihetta 
thick  — •  xtec 
thief  —  wanundexte 
thigh  —  dokoc 
thin  —  pampihc 
think  —  wapucide,  wapusoc 
this  —  ant 
throat  —  nutiske 
throat,  sore  —  itaenunahruc 
throw  out,  to  —  kaxerutoc 
thumb  —  onka 
thunder  —  xeinihe 
tickle  —  ruksiksikuc 
tie,  to  —  kaskec 
tinder  —  mihkade 
tired  —  iwahatec 
tiresome  —  xeliruc 
it  mouse  —  patahpsi 
to  —  oh 


toad  —  hatka 
tobacco  —  manaca 

‘  ‘  (mixed  with  cornus)  —  man- 
acotkicxe 

tobacco  pouch  —  manacedoke 
to-day  —  ehampe 
toe  —  cipa 

‘  ‘  (second)  —  cihapa 
toe  (smallest)  —  einika 
tomahawk  —  axkenkse 
‘  ‘  of  stone  —  mihkaske 
‘  ‘  of  wood  — •  manapauice 
to-morrow  —  mahtke 
day  after  to-morrow  —  mahtke  oh- 
ma  esta 

tongue  ■ — ■  desike 
tooth  —  hi 

toothache  —  hinahruc 
top  —  mahakahgitta 
tough,  sticky  —  kedehruc 
trade,  to  — -  wikaruc 
trail  — •  onihnde 
trap  or  fall  —  ahxkataxka 
travois,  a  —  menissican 
tree  - —  manaininduc 
tremble,  to  —  katidericuc 
true  —  tkucoc 
turkey  —  marusi 

‘  ‘  cock,  void  — ■  mahnsi 
‘ 1  buzzard  —  ruhahde 
turn  around,  to  —  kiptahanikusoc 
turnip  —  mahoc 
turtle  —  kipsaude 
twice  - —  xanahrenumpoc 
twist  —  mihnuptakohc 
twisted  —  kaminic 

U. 

ugly  —  xikanacoc 
uncle  —  ratode 
under  —  mahpita 
unfruitful  —  ohromikohc 
unhealthy  —  waheixihc 
unripe  —  canhohc 
upon  —  akia 
urine  —  dexe 


THE  MANDANS. 


219 


V. 

valley  —  owakope 
vein  —  iduke 
vermilion  —  wahsap 
very  —  kucoc 
village  —  mihti 
vine  —  hachude 

W. 

wait,  to  —  kihahnakoc 

wake,  to  —  kitahruc 

walk  —  ninduc 

war-club  —  mixaske 

war-dance  —  kiruksahnapic 

war-hoop  —  ceddekohe 

warm  —  dadecuc 

warrior  —  kiraksanxarakac 

wash,  to  —  kiruskikuc 

watch,  to  —  iwakcuntuc 

water  —  mini 

water  jar  —  minimihnde 

wax  —  ohkerucecipkaohdeke 

we  —  nu  or  nuona 

weak  —  ahikoe 

weasel  — -  mahxpax 

wedge  (of  wood)  —  manakakihhe 

weed  —  mahe 

wet  —  skapoc 

what  (relative)  —  ta 

“  (interrog.) — •  tackaL 
what  thing  —  aankotewe 
what  person  —  iinkotewe 
which  —  kotewe 

whirlpool  (in  water)  —  miniruh- 
menicka 

whiskey  —  minipahde 
whistle  —  ihkoce 
white  —  cote  or  cotte 
white  buffalo  —  wokada 


White  Earth  R.  —  minicote  passahe 

white  men  —  waci 

who  —  teve  or  tewe 

wicked  (hated)  —  xikoc 

wife  —  murse  or  kons 

willow  —  haxsehuhde 

wind  —  ehe 

windpipe  —  inihe 

wing  - — •  apxac 

winter  — -  mahna 

wish,  to  —  iteruc 

within  —  kucta 

without  —  akeha 

wolf  (grey)  —  harrata 

‘  ‘  prairie  (coyote)  —  ceheke 
woman  —  mihe 
woodpecker  —  toclca 
work,  to  —  waisekoc 
worm  —  waixirika 
wrap  up,  to  —  ikikahmenic 
wrinkle  —  sihpoc 
write,  to  —  kapusoc 
writing  —  kapuse 

Y. 

yawn  —  ixbedehruc 
year  —  mahna 
years  —  manahna 
yellow  —  pside 
Yellowstone  R.  —  Mihsi 
yes  —  hon 

yesterday  —  xodake 

“  day  before  —  horakekusero 
yolk  (of  an  egg)  —  mandeksukniika- 
kuhctaosiida 
you  —  da  or  0a 
young  —  xamahoc 

“  the  (of  animals)  —  konika 


PEABODY  MUSEUM 

OF 

AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND  ETHNOLOGY 

HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 

PAPERS 


VOLUME  III 


Cambridge,  Mass. 
Published  by  the  Museum 
1904-1913 


PAPERS 

OF  THE 

PEABODY  MUSEUM  OF  AMERICAN  ARCHAEOLOGY  AND 
ETHNOLOGY,  HARVARD  UNIVERSITY 


Vol.  Ill  — No.  5 


DISCOVERY 

OF  A  FRAGMENT  OF  THE  PRINTED  COPY  OF  THE  WORK  ON  THE 

MILLCAYAC  LANGUAGE 


BY 

LUIS  DE  VALDIVIA 

WITH  A  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTICE 


BY' 

RUDOLPH  R.  SCHULLER 

I, ATE  OF  THE  MDSEU  GOELDI,  PARA,  BRAZIL 


PHOTOGRAPHIC  REPRODUCTION  OF  FOUR  PAGES  OF  THE  WORK 


CAMBRIDGE,  MASS. 
PUBLISHED  BY  THE  MUSEUM 
1913 


EDITORIAL  NOTE 

The  discovery  in  the  Library  of  Harvard  University  of  two 
loose  leaves  from  a  long  lost  work  by  Father  Valdivia  led  to 
the  preparation  of  this  paper  by  Mr.  Schuller  at  the  suggestion 
of  Professor  Coolidge,  the  Director  of  the  Library. 

The  importance  of  publishing  reproductions  of  these  four  pages, 
with  remarks  by  Mr.  Schuller  upon  the  language  of  the  little 
known  Millcayac  Indians  of  the  Pampas  of  South  America, 
together  with  his  bibliographical  notes  relating  to  the  writings 
of  Valdivia,  warrents  the  printing  of  this  paper  by  the  Peabody 
Museum. 

F.  W.  Putnam. 

Cambridge,  Massachusetts, 

April  16,  1913. 


223 


PREFACE 


Nothing  is  known  as  to  how  these  two  leaves  of  a  book  which 
has  been  so  long  sought  for  came  into  the  possession  of  the  Har¬ 
vard  Library.  The  leaves  here  reproduced  were  found  by  Pro¬ 
fessor  Leo  Wiener  when  looking  over  a  volume  on  Mexican 
History  in  the  Harvard  Library  several  years  ago.  They  were 
carefully  preserved  by  the  University  Librarian,  Mr.  W.  C.  Lane. 

While  calling  my  attention  to  the  very  extensive  collection  of 
linguistic  material  relating  to  South  America,  Professor  A.  C. 
Coolidge,  Director  o,f  the  University  Library,  chanced  to  take 
from  a  package  an  envelope  containing  the  two  leaves,  which 
I  at  once  recognized  as  belonging  to  the  book  by  Father  Val¬ 
divia. 

It  is  quite  evident  that  these  leaves  were  stolen  from  the  orig¬ 
inal  book  by  some  vandal.  The  left  hand  edges  of  the  leaves 
show  that  they  were  cut  out,  one  being  1  mm.,  and  the  other 
\  mm.  narrower  than  the  full  page  of  9  cm.  The  title  of  the 
“  Confessionario  ”  bore  a  seal  (possibly  of  a  Jesuit  monas¬ 
tery)  but  it  was  effaced  by  the  vandal’s  covering  the  edges  with 
scrawls.  On  the  right  hand  margin  of  page  12,  where  a  name 
appears  to  have  been  written,  the  same  operation  was  repeated, 
making  it  impossible  to  discover  the  monastery  library  owning 
the  volume  from  which  these  leaves  were  taken. 


Cambridge,  Mass.,  October,  1912. 


R.  R.  Sch. 


THE  LANGUAGE 

OF  THE 

MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 

Millcayac  and  Allentiac  were  the  two  Indian  tribes  which 
in  the  XVI  and  XVII  centuries  occupied  the  Cuyo,1  a  province 
at  that  time  under  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  jurisdiction  of 
Chile. 

One  of  the  early  Jesuit  missionaries  to  the  Cuyo  was  Luis  de 
Valdivia,  who,  according  to  a  statement  made  by  Father  Alonso 
de  Ovalle  of  the  same  society,  was  laboring  among  the  Indians, 
whom  he  calls  Guarpes.2 

He  tells  us  in  another  place  3  that  these  people  “  inhabit  the 
country  of  Cuyo  on  the  other  side  of  the  Cordillera  and  that 
Valdivia  learned  their  language,  which  was  entirely  distinct 
from  that  of  Chile  ( Mapuche  4),  made  a  vocabulary  and  grammar 
and  printed  it  with  that  of  Chile.”  5 

Ovalle,  apparently,  refers  here  to  the  two  works  published  by 
F.  Luis  de  Valdivia:  — 

1  Today  the  three  Argentine  provinces  of  San  Luis,  Mendoza,  and  San  Juan.  Cuyanos 
is  a  name  applied  to  the  Argentines  by  the  Chilians. 

For  the  etymology  of  the  name  Guyana ,  see  Lem,  “  Diceionario  Etimolojico  de  las  voces 
chilenas  derivadas  de  lenguas  indijenas  Americanas.”  Primera  Entrega.  Santiago  de 
Chile,  1904-1905,  p.  234,  No.  304. 

2  Unfortunately  Ovalle  does  not  tell  us  whether  the  name  is  one  the  Indians  called  them¬ 
selves  or  one  applied  to  them  by  other  tribes. 

Lem,  op.  cit.,  p.  382,  n.  593,  says  the  word  is  from  the  language  of  the  Allentiac  or  Mill¬ 
cayac  of  Mendoza,  but  does  not  verify  the  statement. 

Mitre,  “  Lenguas  Americanas- — Estudio  bibliogr&fieo-linguistieo  de  las  obras  del  P.  Luis 
de  Valdivia  sobre  el  araucano  y  el  allentiak,  con  un  vocabulario  razonado  del  allentiak;” 
La  Plata,  1894,  p.  46,  believes  that  the  name  Guarpe  as  well  as  the  name  Guanacache,  a  lake 
in  the  habitat  (S.  Juan)  of  the  Guarpe,  are  of  Aymara  origin!!  —  See  also:  “  Revista  del 
Museo  de  La  Plata.”  Vol.  VI,  La  Plata,  1894. 

3  Historica  Relacion  Del  Reyno  de  Chile,  Y  delas  missiones,  y  ministerios  que  exercita 
en  el  la  Compania  de  Jesvs.  En  Roma,  por  Francisco  Cauallo.  M.DC.XLVI.  Con  liceneia 
delos  Superiores,  pp.  338-339. 

4  The  Chilian  Indians  never  called  themselves  Araucano(s),  a  name  probably  of  Quechua 
origin. 

Auca  is  a  collective  term  applied  to  any  enemies  of  the  Incas.  The  Auca  were  also  the 
wild  Chunchos  of  the  “  Peruvian-Montana.” 

6  Op.  cit.,  p.  101,  passim. 


227 


228 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


I.  Arte  /  y  Gramatica  /  General  de  la  Lengva  qve  / 
corre  en  todo  el  Reyno  de  Chile,  con  vn  Voca-  /  bula- 
rio,  y  Confessonario.  Compuestos  /  por  el  Padre  Luys 
de  Valdiuia  de  la  /  Compania  de  Iesus  en  la  Pro-  / 
uincia  del  Pirn.  /  Ivntamente  con  la  Doctri-  /  na 
Christiana  y  Cathecismo  del  Concilio  de  Lima  en  Es-  / 
panol,  y  clos  traduciones  del  en  la  lengua  de  Chile,  que  / 
examinaron  y  aprobaron  los  dos  Reuerendissi  /  mos 
senores  de  Chile,  cada  qual  la  /  de  su  Obispado.  /  IHS 
/  Con  licencia.  /  En  Lima  por  Francisco  del  Canto. 
/  —  /  Ano.  1G06.  //  in  80.1 

Madrid:  National  Library. 

London:  Library  of  the  British  Museum. 

Leipzig:  Library  of  the  late  Dr.  J.  Platzmann,  who  published  a  fac¬ 
simile  of  this  edition.  (Now  in  the  Library  of  Congress.) 

II.  Doctrina  Cristiana  y  Catecismo  con  un  Confesionario, 
Arte  y  Vocabulario  Breves  en  Lengua  Allentiac  por  el 
Padre  Luis  de  Valdivia  de  la  Compania  de  Jesus.  Re- 
impreso  todo  a  plana  y  renglon,  con  una  resena  de  la  vida  y 
obras  del  autor  por  Jose  Toribio  Medina.  —  Sevilla.  Imp. 
de  E.  Rasco,  Bustos  Tavera,  1  MDCCCXCIV.  in  8°. 

The  titles  of  the  original  are  as  follows:  — 

(a)  Doctrina  /  Christiana  /  y  Cathecismo  en  la  /  lengua 
Allentiac,  que  corre  enla  ciu  /  dad  de  S.  Iuan  clela  Fron- 
tera,  con  /  vn  Confessonario,  Arte,  y  /  Bocabulario 
breues.  /  Compvesto  por  el  Padre  /  Luys  de  Valdiuia 
dela  Compania  de  Ie-  /  sus,  dela  Prouincia  del  Peru.  / 
IHS  /  Con  licencia.  /  En  Lima  por  Francisco  del 
Canto,  /  Ano.  M. DC. VII.  // — 13  ff. 

( b )  Confessionario  /  Breve  enla  /  Lengva  Allentiac,  /  que 
corre  enla  Ciudad  de  S.  Iuan  de  /  la  Frontera,  dela  Pro¬ 
uincia  de  Cuyo  /  Por  el  Padre  Luys  de  Valdiuia  de  /  la 
Compania  de  Iesus  en  la  /  Prouincia  del  Peru.  /  Prove- 
choso.  para  confes-  /  sar  los  Indios  de  Cuyo,  y  otras  per¬ 
sonas.  /  IHS  /  Con  licencia.  /  En  Lima  por  Francisco 
del  Canto.  /  Ano.  M.DC.VII.  //  —  ff.  14-20. 

1  The  second  edition,  Sevilla,  1684,  is  one  of  the  rarest  Americana. 

Santiago:  Private  Library  of  Don  Luis  Montt. 

Santiago:  Museo  Bibliografico,  National  Library. 

Valladolid:  University  Library. 

Buenos  Aires:  Museo  Mitre. 

London:  British  Museum. 

The  title  page  is  missing  in  the  copy  in  the  National  Library  in  Santiago  de  Chile. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


229 


(c)  Arte  y  /  Gramatica  /  brebe  dela  lengva  Allen-  /  tiac, 
que  corre  enla  Ciudad  de  S.  Iuan  dela  Fron  /  tera  pro- 
uincia  de  Cuyo,  juridicion  de  Chile.  /  Compuesta  por  el 
Padre  Luys  de  Val  /  diuia  dela  Compania  de  Iesus  de  / 
la  Prouinsia  [!]  del  Peru.  /  Con  la  Doctrina  y  Catecis  / 
mo,  y  Confessionario  enesta  lengua,  y  vn  breue  Yoca-  / 
bulario  para  comengar  a  catequizar  y  confessar,  /  que 
compuso  el  dicho  Padre,  y  aprobo  el  se  /  nor  Reueredis- 
simo  de  Sact.  de  Chile.  /  IHS  /  Con  licencia.  /  En 
Lima  por  Francisco  del  Canto.  /  Ano.  M. DC. VII.  // 
I  fnc.  +  XIV  ff.  +  I  fnc. 

(d)  Vocabvlario  /  Breve  en  len  /  gva  Allentiac,  de  /  los 
vocables  mas  comunes  y  necessa  /  rios  para  cathequizar 
y  cofessar  en  /  esta  lengua.  Compuesto  por  el  Pa  / 
dre  Luys  de  Valdiuia  dela  Cd  /  pania  de  Iesus  enla  Pro- 
/  uincia  del  Peru.  /  IHS  /  Con  licencia.  /  En  Lima  por 
Francisco  del  Canto.  /  Ano.  M. DC. VII.  //  ff.  X. 

And  at  the  end  of  the  “  Arte,”  or  on  the  back  of  fol.  XIV,  we 
read : — 

If  “  No  pensaua  imprimir  estos  dos  Artes  de  lengua  Mill- 
cayac  y  Allentiac  por  auer  mas  de  ocho  anos  que  los  hize, 
y  otros  tantos  que  no  vso  estas  dos  lenguas  esperando 
hasta  tener  mas  vso  y  exercicio  dellas,  pero  consideranclo 
la  gran  necessidad  de  estos  indios  parecio  mas  gloria  de 
nuestro  senor  imprimillos  junto  con  los  Catecismos  para 
que  haya  algun  principio  aunque  imperfecto,  y  el  tiempo 
lo  perficionara.”  [The  Italics  are  mine.] 

From  this  postscript  it  is  clear  that  he  was  speaking  of  two 
works  on  two  distinct  languages  of  Cuyo  and  that  both  manu¬ 
scripts  were  given  to  the  printer  about  eight  years  after  they 
were  written.  No  doubt  both  works  were  printed  and  circulated 
very  soon  after  they  were  received. 

There  is  a  great  discrepancy  among  the  bibliographers  of  the 
printed  works  of  Father  Valdivia,  even  among  the  Jesuits  them¬ 
selves,  who  had  easy  access  to  all  the  publications  made  by  the 
members  of  the  order. 


230 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


According  to  Medina-Mitre,  Alegambe  1  was  the  first  to  men¬ 
tion  the  books  of  Valdivia,  as  follows:  Grammaticae,  Lexica 
Catechismos,  et  Methodos  confitendi,  linguis  Allentiacensi  & 
Millcaiacensi,  quarum  usus  in  aliquot  Provinciis  Regnis  chilen- 
sis  est.  Limae,  MDCVII,  in  8°. 2 

Sotwel,3  who  continued  Alegambe’s  work,  completing  it  in 
1675,  not  as  Medina4  asserts,  1775,  limited  himself  to  repro¬ 
ducing  the  titles  given  by  his  predecessor. 

Andres  Gonzalez  de  Barcia  (Leon-Pinelo)  gives  the  title:  — 

Arte,  Gramatica,  Vocabulario,  Cateeismo,  Doctrina  Chris¬ 
tiana,  Confesonario  Breve,  Misterios  de  la  Fe,  en  Lengua  Chi- 
lena,  y  en  las  dos  Lenguas  Allen tiac  y  Milcocayac  que  son  las 
mas  generates  de  la  Provincia  de  Guio,  en  el  Reino  de  Chile,  y 
que  hablan  los  indios  Guarpes,  y  otros,  imp.  en  Lima,  1607, 
in  8°. 

He  cites  also  another  edition  printed  in  1608,  in  8°. 5 

The  title  above  mentioned  includes  all  the  four  books  written 
by  Valdivia  on  the  Indian  languages  of  Chile.6 

1  It  is  very  singular  that  the  learned  Leon-Pinelo,  whose  work  “  Epitome  de  la  Biblio- 
teca  Oriental  i  Occidental,  Nautica  i  Geografica,”  etc.,  etc.,  appeared  in  1629  (Madrid), 
has  no  reference  to  the  then  published  works  of  Valdivia.  The  missionary  died  early,  1642, 
in  Valladolid. 

2  “  Bibliotheca  Scriptorum  Societatis  Jesu,  post  excusum  anno  1608.  Catalogum 
R.  P.  Petri  Ribadeneirae  Societatis  ejusdem  theologi:  nunc  hoc  novo  apparatu  librorum 
ad  annum  reparatae  salutis  1642  editorum  concinnata  et  illustrium  virorum  elogiis  adornata 
a  Philippo  Alegambe  Bruxellensi  ex  eadem  Societate  Jesu  .  .  .  .”  Antverpiae,  Apud 
Joannem  Meursium,  1643,  fob,  p.  319. 

3  “  Bibliotheca  Scriptorvm  Societatis  Jesv  opvs  inchoatvm  A.  R.  P.  Petro  Ribadeneira 
Eiusdem  Societatis  Theologo,  anno  salutis  1602.  Continvatvm  A.  R.  P.  Philippo  Alegambe 
Ex  eadem  Societate,  vsque  ad  annum  1642.  Recognitum,  a  productum  ad  annum  Jubilaei 
M.DC.LXXV.  A  Nathanaele  Sotvello  Eiusdem  Societatis  Presbytero  .  .  .  .”  Romae, 
Ex  Typographia  Jacobi  Antonij  de  Lazzaris  Varesij.  M.D.LXXVI,  fob,  p.  575. 

4  Op.  cit.,  p.  50.  —  The  same  mistake  is  found  also  in  his  “  Biblioteca  Hispano-Chilena,” 
I,  1897,  p.  108,  as  well  as  in  his  “  La  Imprenta  en  Lima,”  I,  1904,  p.  106. 

See:  “  Arte  Allentiac,”  -Medina's  bibliographical  notice,  p.  49,  where  begins:  “La 
historia  bibliogr£fica  del  libro  anduvo  siempre  muy  enmaranada,  y,  segdn  veremos,  no 
carece  aun  hoy  de  ciertos  puntos  oseuros.” 

And  cf.  “  Biblioteca  Hispano-Chilena,”  I,  pp.  108,  110.  “  La  Imprenta  en  Lima,”  I, 

pp.  106-108. 

5  “  Epitome  de  la  Biblioteca  Oriental,  y  Occidental,  Nautica,  y  Geografica  de  Don  An¬ 
tonio  de  Leon  Pinelo,”  etc.,  etc.  Tomo  Segundo,  Con  Privilegio:  En  Madrid:  En  la  Oficina 
de  Francisco  Martinez  Abad,  en  la  Calle  del  Olivo  Baxo.  Ano  de  M.DCC. XXXVIII, 
fob,  cob  727. 

6  “  Nueve  Sermones  en  Lengua  de  Chile  por  el  P.  Luis  de  Valdivia  de  la  Compania  de 
Jesus.  Reimpresos  :i  plana  y  renglon  del  unico  ejemplar  conocido  y  precedidos  de  una 
bibliografia  de  la  misma  lengua.”  Por  Jose  Toribio  Medina .  Reimpresos  en  Santiago  de 
Chile  en  la  Imprenta  Elseviriana.  1897. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


231 


I.  “  Arte  y  Gramatica  General,”  etc.,  etc.,  Lima,  1606. 

II.  Sermones  /  en  Lengva  /  cle  Chile,  de  los  Mys-  / 
terios  de  nvestra  Santa  /  Fe  Catholica,  para  predicarla  / 
a  los  indios  infieles  del  Reyno  /  de  Chile.  Dividido  en 
nveve  /  partes  pequenas  acomodadas  a  /  su  capacidad. 

/  Compvesto  por  el  P.  Lvys  de  Valdivia,  de  la  /  Com- 
pania  de  Iesus.  Perfecto  de  los  estudios  mayores  /  de 
S  Ambrosio  ...  I  IHS  /  Impreso  en  Valladolid,  Ano 
de  1621  //in  4°. 

III.  “  Arte,”  etc.,  etc.,  of  Millcayac;  and 

IV.  “  Arte,”  etc.,  etc.,  of  Allentiac. 

The  edition  of  1608,  we  naturally  suppose,  was  noted  among 
others  by  the  author  1  of  the  Bibliotheca  Hispano  Nova,”  II, 
Madrid,  1788,  p.  67 ;  and  the  title  was  accepted  without  any 
criticism  also  by  the  French  bibliographer  Ternaux,  who  made 
greater  confusion  by  indicating  it  as  a  4°. 2 

Ludewig  3  cites :  — 

“  Arte  Grammatica,  Vocabulario  Catecismo  y  Confes- 
sionario  en  Lengua  Chilena  y  en  las  dos  Lenguas  Allentiac 
y  Milcocayac,4  que  son  las  mas  generales  de  la  Provincia 
de  Cuio  en  el  reyno  de  Chili  [!],  y  que  hablan  los  Indios 
Guarpes  y  otros.  Lima,  1607,  in  8°.” 

And  Professor  Turner  5  attempting  to  correct  Ludewig  states : — 
“  Grammatica  y  Vocabulario  en  las  Lenguas  Allentiac  y 
Milcocayac,  por  Torralva  Lima,  1608,  in  8°.” 

To  these  two  editions  in  8°.  according  to  some,  and  in  4°. 
according  to  others,  Barcia  6  adds  a  third  with  the  title:  “  Cate- 

1  Nicolds  Antonio ,  followed  also  by  Brunet,  “  Manuel  duLibraire,”  etc.,  etc.,  IV,  p.  547, 
and  others. 

2  “  Bibliotheque  Americaine  ou  Catalogue  des  ouvrages  relatifs  a  l’Amdrique  qui  ont  paru 
depuis  sa  d£couverte  jusqu'a  l’an  1700.”  Paris,  M.DCCC. XXXVIII,  num.  305. 

3  “  The  Literature  of  American  Aboriginal  Languages.”  By  Hermann  E.(rnst)  Ludewig. 
With  additions,  etc.,  By  Professor  Wm.  W.  Turner,  London,  MDCCCLVIII,  pp.  7,  118. 

4  See:  op.  cit. ,  “  Addenda,”  p.  210;  and  cf.  p.  230,  where  he  says:  “  Milkokayac  is  an 
error  of  Jiilg’s  which  is  corrected  in  his  errata.” 

5  Op.  cit.,  p.  210. 

6  Op.  cit.,  II,  col.  738.  —  See:  Ternaux,  op.  cit.,  num.  256.  —  “  Bibliografia  Espanola 
de  Lenguas  Indigenas  de  America,”  por  el  conde  de  la  Vihaza  (or  Father  Mier,  S.  J.)  Madrid, 
Est.  Tip  “  Suees.  de  Rivadeneyra,”  1892,  p.  56,  num.  101. 

Medina,  op.  cit.,  1.  c.,  gives  as  a  in-12°. 

Mitre,  op.  cit.,  p.  36,  indicates,  1612  [!].  —  See:  “  Revista  del  Museo  de  La  Plata,” 
VI,  pp.  45-99.  La  Plata  (1894),  1895.  —  A.  M.  Fable  “  Las  Lenguas  Amerieanas  y  el 
P.  Luis  de  Valdivia  ”  in  “  Boletin  de  la  Real  Academia  de  la  Historia.”  XXVII,  Madrid, 


232 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


cismo  en  lengua  Allentina  por  el  P.  Luis  de  Valdivia,  1602,  in 
8° 

The  supposed  editions  of  1602  and  1608  are  mentioned  in 
exactly  the  same  way  by  Father  Carlos  Sommervogel1  except 
that  the  first  is  described  as  a  12°. 

Thus  the  later  bibliographical  notices  became  more  and  more 
confused  concerning  these  two  grammars  of  the  Indian  languages 
of  Cuyo  until  finally  Medina  had  the  good  fortune  to  discover 
a  copy  of  the  original  edition  of  the  “  Arte,”  etc.,  in  Allentiac, 
in  the  National  Library  of  Lima. 

The  first  notice  of  this,  the  rarest  of  Peruvian  publications  at 
that  time  in  the  Lima  library  2  was  given  by  Medina  in  his  work 
entitled:  “  Historia  de  la  Literatura  Colonial  de  Chile.”  3  In 
1894  the  same  bibliographer  published  a  facsimile  edition  of  the 
“  Arte  Allentiac,”  using  the  other  original  copy  discovered  by 
Mier  (la  Vinaza  4)  in  the  National  Library  of  Madrid. 

After  the  appearance  of  the  original  copy  of  the  Allentiac, 
which  some  had  considered  lost  forever  and  others  as  a  biblio¬ 
graphical  myth,  Medina  5  was  able  to  prove  in  a  satisfactory 
manner  that  the  two  supposed  editions  of  1602  and  1608  in 
reality  had  never  existed  except  in  the  works  of  the  various 
bibliographers.  Not  one  of  all  the  bibliographers  before  Medina 
had  ever  seen  the  original  copy  of  the  “  Arte  Allentiac ,”  which  he 
described. 

Medina,  however,  has  not  been  so  fortunate  in  respect  to  the 
third  question;  that  referring  to  the  printed  copy  of  Millcayac. 
The  question  of  “  Llego  a  publicarse  la  Gramatica,  catecismo 

1S95,  pp.  321-411.  —  Mitre-Torres.  “  Catdlogo  Razonado  de  la  Seccion  Lenguas  Ameri- 
canas.”  Cod  una  introduecion  de  Luis  Maria  Torres.  Tomo  I,  Buenos  Aires,  1909,  pp. 
339—409;  on  p.  361  is  mentioned:  “  Lenguas  Americanas.  Vocabulario  razonado  allentiak- 
castellano.  Con  sus  concordancias  16xicas  y  andlisis  gramatieales,  as!  como  sus  raices, 
para  eomplementar  el  vocabulario  espanol-allentiak  del  P.  Luis  de  Valdivia.”  Buenos 
Aires,  1894.  (With  a  special  cover.) 

1  “  Bibliot he que  de  la  Compagnie  de  Jdsus,”  etc.,  etc.,  Tome  VIII,  Bruxelles-Paris, 
MDCCCXCVIII,  cols.  377,  378,  and  379. 

2  It  is  quite  likely  that  this  copy  disappeared  during  the  war  of  the  Pacific  (1879-81). 
Cf.  Mitre,  op.  cit.,  p.  34. 

3  Tomo  II,  p.  381,  Santiago  de  Chile,  1878;  cf.  t.  Ill,  p.  142. 

4  Father  Mier,  S.  J.,  is  the  real  author  of  the  bibliography  signed  by  Count  de  la  Vinaza; 
cf.  op.  cit. 

6  See:  facs.  edit,  of  Sevilla,  1894,  pp.  49-55.  “  Biblioteca  Hispano-Chilena,”  I,  pp. 

108-110.  “  La  Imprenta  en  Lima,”  I,  pp.  106-108. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


233 


y  vocabulario  milcayac  ?  ”  1  must  remain  unanswered  unless 
the  printed  copy  in  Millcayac  language  be  found,  because  at  the 
end  of  the  “  Arte  Allentiac  ”  Valdivia  expressly  declares:  “  no 
pensaua  imprimir  estos  dos  Artes  de  lengua  Millcayac  y  Allen¬ 
tiac  ” 2  which  gives  us  authority  for  the  supposition  that  both 
books  had  been  published. 

And  the  correctness  of  this  assumption  is  obviously  assured 
also  by  some  passages  of  the  Allentiac  Grammar,  where  Valdivia 
says  explicitly:  “  Concuerdan  el  nombre  y  verbo  en  numero 
y  persona  como  en  la  lengua  Millcayac,  cuyas  reglas  siruen  tam- 
bien  a  esta.”  3 

Nevertheless,  Boman4  states  flatly:  “  Apres  avoir  public  son 
arte  de  1’Allentiac,  le  P.  Valdivia  ecrivit  une  grammaire  et  un 
vocabulaire  d’une  autre  langue  parlee  par  des  Indiens  de  Men¬ 
doza  et  nominee  Millcayac,  qu’il  ne  faut  pas  confondre  avec 
1' Allentiac  des  Huarpes  (?),  ni  considerer  comme  un  dialecie  de 
cette  derniere  langue.”  5 6 

The  evidence  of  Boman’s  conjecture  is  demonstrated  by 
Father  Valdivia’s  observation:  “  Concuerda  en  muchas  cosas 
esta  lengua  en  los  numeros  con  la  Millcayac  vease  el  Capitulo 
Quinze  del  arte  Millcayac,”  6  which  at  the  same  time  proves  that 
Medina’s  7  argument  “  empezo  luego  la  impresion  de  la  Doc- 
trina,  catecismo,  arte  confesionario  y  vocabulario  en  Allentiac; 
pero,  urgido  por  la  necesidad  de  partir  para  Espana  a  tratar  de  su 
gran  proyecto  de  establecer  en  Chile  la  guerra  defensiva,  acaso 
no  pudo  proceder  a  la  impresion  de  sus  tratados  en  lengua  mil¬ 
cayac  .  .  .  ,”  is  without  any  historical  foundation.  The  same 
may  be  said  of  Medina’s  8  assertion:  “  Del  tenor  de  ambas  [the 
“  Decreto  ”  and  the  “  Licencia  ”]  parece  fuera  de  cuestion  que 
debe  (sic)  deducirse  que  en  la  fecha  en  que  le  fueron  otorgadas 

1  Op.  cit.,  p.  51. 

2  Loc.  cit. 

3  Op.  cit.,  fol.  11  r. 

1  “  Antiquitfe  de  la  Region  Andine  de  la  R6publique  Argentine  et  du  Dfeert  d’Atacama.” 
Tome  Premier.  Paris,  Imprimerie  National,  1908,  p.  37. 

5  He  never  has  read  either  Valdivia’s  Allentiac  Grammar  or  Mitre’s  dissertation  on 
the  same  subject. 

6  Op.  cit.,  fol.  12  r. 

7  Op.  cit.,  p.  55. 

8  Op.  cit.,  pp.  54  and  55. 


234 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


el  misionero  chileno  tenia  terminadas  las  Doctrinas  cristianas, 
catecismos,  confesionarios,  artes  y  vocabularios  en  las  dos  Len- 
guas  milcayac  y  allentiac  .  .  . 

He  must  have  forgotten  that  at  the  end  of  the  Allentiac  Gram¬ 
mar  1  Valdivia  observes:  “  ...  por  auer  mas  de  ocho  anos  que 
los  hize  .  2 

And  his  argument,  from  the  tenor  3  of  the  “  Decreto  ”  and 
of  the  “  Licencia,”  seems  to  be  unquestionable  that  we  may 
conclude  that  when  those  two  documents  were  signed  the 
Chilean  missionary  had  finished  the  Christian  doctrines,  Cate¬ 
chisms,  Confessions,  Grammars,  and  Vocabularies  of  the  two 
languages  Millcayac  and  Allentiac. 

There  was  no  doubt  about  it  after  Valdivia’s  saying  on  fob  12 
of  the  Allentiac  Grammar  “  see  chapter  XV  of  Millcayac  Gram¬ 
mar.”  4 

Neither  can  I  see  any  difficulty  in  the  voyage  of  Valdivia  to 
Spain  for  the  publication  of  his  tract  in  the  Millcayac  language. 
He  left  Lima  near  the  close  of  the  year  1607 ;  and  this  would 
have  given  him  sufficient  time  to  oversee  the  printing  of  his 
worksf  This  is  quite  evident  from  the  “  Decreto  ”  dated  in 
Lima,  February  19,  1607;  and  from  the  “  Licencia”  by  Father 
Superior  Esteuan  Paez,  signed  in  the  Peruvian  capital  Feb¬ 
ruary  21  of  the  same  year.5 

Medina  6  is  mistaken  also  in  saying  that  the  confusion  of  the 
bibliographers  is  due  to  the  “  Decreto  del  Real  Acverdo,”  etc., 
etc.,  in  which  are  enumerated  in  order  the  two  works  in  the 
Millcayac  and  Allentiac  languages,  authorizing  at  the  same  time 
their  publication  for  the  space  of  ten  years. 

Passing  from  the  orthographical  and  typographical  errors,  it 
appears  that  the  greater  number  of  the  bibliographers  cite  the 
Millcayac  as  published  in  Lima,  in  1607,  which  is  in  perfect 
accord  with  the  “  Decreto  ”  and  “  Licencia.” 

1  Op.  eit.,  fol.  14  rev. 

2  Mitre,  op.  cit.,  p.  38  “  ...  los  dos  Artes  fueron  confeccionados  al  finalizar  el  siglo 
XVI  ...  but  after  accepting  Medina’s  erroneous  statement,  he  agrees  that  the  manu¬ 
script  in  Millcayac  “  debio  quedar  en  Lima  y  se  ha  perdido  ”  (sic). 

3  See  “  Arte  Allentiac.”  title  page,  anverse. 

4  Loc.  cit. 

6  “  Arte  Allentiac,”  1.  c.  —  “  Confessionario  Millcayac,”  fol.  21  anv. 

6  Op.  cit.,  p.  55. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS  235 

The  origin  of  the  greatest  confusion  may  be  found  in  Medina’s 
assertion: 1  “  Todo  indica,  sin  embargo,  que  ese  libro  no  llego  a 
publicarse.” 

With  the  discovery  of  two  leaves  of  Millcayac  in  print  the 
question  is  finally  settled. 

This  fragment  consists  of  folio  12  of  the  “  Doctrina  Christi¬ 
ana  ”  and  of  folio  21  of  the  “  Confessionario  Breve  ”  ;  size 
89X136  mm.,  printed  on  paper  similar  to  that  of  the  original 
copy  of  the  Allentiac. 


1  Ibid.  —  The  same  mistake  makes  Boman  say:  “  Cet  ouvrage  a  6t6  perdu  (following 
Mitre,  op.  cit.,  loc.  cit.),  sans  avoir  jamais  [!]  ete  imprime  (according  to  Medina),  op.  cit., 


( 


CHRISTIANA.  i* 

flcrida . 

%  El'juantavunar  qtta.ndo  le  manda  U  fxntta  t»a 
I  drc  Tglefia . 

«5J  fl  qttinto,  pGgardte'^nits  j  primiciat, 

LOS  MANDAMIENTOS  DEL 

fan 61a  Madrc  Yglefia. 

Cuchuch  pe^ne  land  a  Yvitfia  xam a 
horoc  teguaupie, 

^^'Eguixama  matquc  Domingo ta  fieila 
,  ^  ^  muitayta ichaca chonny  Miila  achett’ 
Yemenite  Kama  inatipue  chcca  cettta  Icitaca* 
ncm  confVlfarec'tema ,  yta  xapigualtati }  vta 
cotnulg.iepia  qmllc-ntun  ti ,  confeilareccema# 
^jPuItunigue  xama  matque  palcua  xumula  la- 
i  gm  niuelte^uenap  Id'u  Christo, comulgateete 
i  ma. 

^GuTe  ci  xama  matquc  cocliuch  pecne  fancta 
i'  Yglefia  maviijAytinareetcnia. 

^  Horoc  xa  namat^jue  Diezmo*,,primicias yea 
1  pAgararet  terna. 

LOS  S  AC  RAM  ENTOS, 

Lot  Sacrametos  dt  la  Sanfla  madrt  Tglefia  fort  fiett, 

EL  prtrncrt  ,B~ptifrr.o  FlfcganJo.  CovtirmAiion. 
El  tircerOyPemienci a.  SI  Cjnarto}Co'ti>^ff'/fon  El 
qurnro, Extrema  vnclion.  Elfixtof  rdeu  Sactr 
;  dotal.  El ppiMOyALatfimonit, 

LOS  SACRAMENT  OS. 

A  4  ■  % 


236 


DOCTRIN  A 

Vchuch  peqnc  i'ancla  Yglefia  che  Sacramea 
to  guiamyemcnzac  gualcei|tie. 

^  Negui  BapnlYno.  ^  Yemeni  Contirmacion. 
a  Puituni  Penitentia,  q  Gufeuni  Comunion.  1 
^Horocoy  Extrema  Vn&ion.  q]  Zhillcay  Or- 
dcnaterJotal  f  Ye**»£nzae  Matriinonio,. 

LAS  OBRAS  DE  MJSERI- 
CORDIA. 

L  A  S  obret  de  Mifericordia  fen  caterTe  3  lat  fiett 
c  erporalesyj  las  fete  efpintuales, 

<jj  Las  corporates  fen  efias. 

La  Primer  a  vifitar  Its  enfermos.  La  ft  gun  da  dar  de  , 
timer  al  que  ha  hambre.  La  tercera  dar  de  better  al 
que  ha  fed.  La  quart  a  redemir  at  capttuo.  La  quinta  ' 
vtjhr  al  defnudo,  La  fexta  dar  pojada  at  peregrin,  , 
La  feptinta  enterrar  los  muertes. 

%  Las  Efpirttu  ales  fon  e  fas, 

|  A  Primer  a  enfchdr  al  [imple  que  no  ftbe  La  Sc • 
gun  da  dareonfejo  alque  lo  ba  mtneflcr.  La  ter - 
ter  a  cash;  Aral  que  ba  mcncfter  cajhgo  La  quart  a 
perdonar  al  que  err o  centra  ti,  La  quinta  fufrtr  las 
in  \urias  del  proximo  con  paciencta  *  La  fexta  confo- 
lar  los  trifles y  de for, jolades.  La  feptima  rogar  A  • 
Dios  per  los  vinos  ypor  los  inner  tos 

LAS  OBRAS  DE  MISER  I- 
CORDIA. 

*\v  Ochnm  yeminiip.iaxama(ohras  de  Miferi. 

•  '  cordia  mataguc  tcc^ue)  mutucum  gultut 
«|leu  gualteque.  %  Ye- 


237 


CONFESS  I  ON'ARIO  11 

BREVE  E  N  L  A 

LENGVA  MILLCAY  AC, 
dcla  Prcuincia  dc  Cuyo.  Por  cl  Pa¬ 
li  rcLuysdc  Valdiuia  dela  Cora- 
pania  dc  (cfus.  Enla  Pro- 
utncia  del  Peru. 


PROVECHOSO,  PARA  CON* 

telTdt  In*  In .lios  df  Cuyo >  y  :L^Oc^' 

otras  pertonas . 


CON  H  C  E  N  C I  A. 

En  Lima  por  Franciico  dc-l  Canto* 
Alio.  M.  L)C.  Vil* 


238 


DECRETO  DEL  REAL  ACVERDO 
dcia  Audiencia  delos  Rcyc*. 

AVicndofc  vifto  las  Do  Arinas 
ChrirtianasjCaicGifmoSjCon- 
fchonanoSjArrci)  y  Vecabula- 
rios  del  Padre  Luys  de  Valdiuia  dcia 
Compania  de  lej'osenlas  dos  leguas 
Millcayac  y  Al’etiac  debs  ciudades 
•dft  Ndcndo^a  y  S.Iuan  dcia  frontcra 
y  las  aprobacioncs  dc  rodo ,  fe  Ic  da 
licencra  al  dieho  Padre  Lays  de  Val 
diuia  para  tjue  io  poeda  imprimir 
pot  die?  a  6us, guard  an  do  \i  ley  nuc 
pa  t]uc  da  la  forma  erc  la  imprelsion 
delos h br os.  Enlcs  Reyes  a  die?,  y 
nueue  dc  Fcbrero  de  leyfcicntos  y 
fietc  anos. 


239 


240 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


[MILLCAYAC] 

Christiana.  12 

florida. 

El  quarto  ayunar  quando  lo  manda  la  sancta  ma- 
dre  Yglesia 

El  quinto,  pagar  diezmos  y  primicias. 


Los  Mandamientos  dela 
sancta  Madre  Yglesia. 
Cuchuch  peqne  sancta  Yglesia  xama 
horoc  teguatque. 


^VTEguixama  matque  Domingo  ta  fiesta  xu- 
hl  mucta  yta  lchaca  choiiuy  Missa  achetema 
Yemenigue  xama  matque  checa  teteta  lchaca- 
nem  confessareetema,  yta  xapigualtati,  yta 
comulgaepia  quillenemeti,  confessareetema. 

H  Pultunigue  xama  matque  pascua  xumucta  la- 
gui  mueltequenap  Iesu  Christo,  comulgareete 
ma. 


Gultuti  xama  matque  cuchuch  pecne  sancta 
Yglesia  mayu,  ayunareetema.  • 

Horoc  xama  matque  Diezmos,  primicias  yta 
pagarareetema. 


Los  Sacramentos. 

Los  Sacrametos  de  la  Sancta  madre  Yglesia  son  siete. 

EL  primero,  Baptismo  El  segundo,  Confirmacion. 

El  tercero,  Penitencia.  El  quarto,  Communion  El 
quinto,  Extrema  vnction.  El  sexto,  Orden  Sacer 
dotal.  El  septimo,  Matrimonio. 


If  Cu 


Los  Sacramentos. 

A  4 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


241 


[ALLENTIAC] 

Christiana 

Los  Mandamientos  de  la 

sancta  Madre  Yglesia. 


CVchach  peqne  sancta  Yglesia  ech  xam 
horoc  mapamna. 

1.  If  Neuvam  xam  mana  chu  domingo  tectayo 
unum  tayam  fiesta  ye  ache  lea  qliam  Missa 
zacatu  Itaatma. 

2.  If  Yemen  nayam  xam  mana  tautat  lopi  confe- 
sa  iltaatma  xapia  ati,  comulgaya  ati  ache  cha 
lay  confesaetma. 

3.  If  Ltunyam  xam  mana  Iesu  Christo  anayma  al- 
tichan  Pascuaye  comulgaetma. 

4.  If  Tutyam  xam  mana,  cuchach  pecne  Sancta 
yglesia  ayunaetayam  tecta  peltaypia  ayuna- 
etma. 

5.  If  Oroc  yam  xam  mana,  Diezmos  Primicias 
ymen  toltomltaatma  Amen. 


Los  Sacramentos. 

LOS  Sacramentos  de  la  Sancta  madre  Yglesia  son 

siete.  El  primero,  Baptismo.  El  segundo,  Confirma 
cion.  El  tercero,  Penitencia.  El  quarto,  Commu¬ 
nion.  El  quinto,  Extrema  vnetion.  El  sexto,  Orden  Sa 
cerdotal.  El  septimo,  Matrimonio. 


Los  Sacramentos. 


CVchach  pecne  sancta  yglesia  ech  Sacramen¬ 
to  guiam  zchillca  mapamna. 

A  5  1-  If  Neu- 


242 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


[MILLCAYAC] 

Doctrina 

CiVchuch  peqne  sancta  Yglesia  che  Sacramen 
^  to  guiam  yemenzac  gualteque. 

If  Negui  Baptismo.  If  Yemeni  Confirmacion. 

If  Pultuni  Penitencia.  If  Gultuni  Comunion. 

If  Horocoy  Extrema  Vnction.  If  Zhillcay  Or- 
den  acerdotal  (sic).  ]f  Yemenzac  Matrimonio. 

Las  Obras  de  Miseri- 
cordia. 

LAS  obras  de  Misericordia  son  catorze,  la  siete 
corporales,  y  las  siete  espirituales. 

^f  Las  corporales  son  estas. 

La  Primera  visitar  los  enfermos.  La  segunda  dar  de 
comer  al  que  ha  hambre.  La  tercera  dar  de  beuer  al 
que  ha  sed.  La  quarta  redemir  al  captiuo.  La  quinta 
ve'fetir  al  desnudo.  La  sexta  dar  posada  al  peregrino. 
La  septima  enterrar  los  muertos. 


If  Las  Espirituales  son  estas. 

A  Primera  ensenar  al  simple  que  no  sabe  La  Se¬ 
gunda  dar  consejo  al  que  lo  ha  menester.  La  ter¬ 
cera  castigar  al  que  ha  menester  castigo.  La  quarta 
perdonar  al  que  erro  contra  ti.  La  quinta  sufrir  las 
injurias  del  proximo  con  paciencia.  La  sexta  conso- 
lar  los  tristes  y  desconsolados.  La  septima  rogar  a 
Dios  por  los  viuos  y  por  los  muertos. 


Las  Obras  de  Miseri¬ 
cordia. 


Ochum  ye  nunupia  xama  (obras  de  Miseri¬ 
cordia  matague  tetque)  mutucum  gultut 
qleu  gualteque. 


If  Ye- 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


243 


[ALLENTIAC] 


1.  If  Neuyam  Baptismo  matayag. 

2.  ^f  Yemnayam  Confirmacion  matayag. 

3.  ]f  Ltun  yam  Penitencia  matayag. 

4.  f[  Tut  yam  comunion  matayag. 

5.  If  Horoc  oyam  Extremauncion  matayag. 

6.  If  Zhillcayam  Orden  Sacerdotal  matayag. 

7.  ^f  Yemni  qleuyag  Matrimonio  matayag. 

Las  Obras  de  Miseri- 
cordia. 


LAS  obras  de  Misericordia  son  catorze,  las  siete 
corporales,  y  las  siete  espirituales. 

"ff  Las  corporales  son  estas. 

La  Primera  visitar  los  enfermos.  La  segunda  dar  de 
comer  al  que  ha  hambre.  La  tercera  dar  de  beuer  al 
que  ha  sed.  La  quarta  redemir  al  captiuo.  La  quinta 
vestir  al  desnudo.  La  sexta  dar  posada  al  peregrino. 
La  septima  enterrar  los  muertos. 

^f  Las  Espirituales  son  estas. 

LA  Primera  ensenar  al  simple  que  no  sabe.  La  Se¬ 
gunda  dar  consejo  al  que  lo  ha  menester.  La  ter¬ 
cera  castigar  al  que  ha  menester  castigo.  La  quarta 
perdonar  al  que  erro  contra  ti.  La  quinta  sufrir  las 
injurias  del  proximo  con  paciencia.  La  sexta  conso- 
lar  los  tristes  y  desconsolados.  La  septima  rogar  a 
Dios  por  los  viuos  y  por  los  muertos. 


Las  Obras  de  Miseri¬ 
cordia. 


If  Conot- 


244 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


CONFESSIONARIO  21 

BREVE  ENLA 

LENGVA  MILLCAYAC, 

tie  la  Prouincia  cle  Cuyo.  Por  el  Pa¬ 
dre  Lays  de  Valdiuia  de  la  Com- 
pania  de  Iesus.  En  la  Pro¬ 
uincia  del  Peru. 

PROVECHOSO.  PARA  CON- 
fessar  los  Indios  de  Cuyo,  y 
otras  personas. 

IHS 

CON  LICENCIA. 

En  Lima  por  Francisco  del  Canto. 
Ano.  M.  DC.  VII. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


245 


CONFESSIONARIO  14 

BREVE  ENLA 

LENGVA  ALLENTIAC, 

que  corre  enla  Ciudad  de  S.  Iuan  de 
la  Frontera,  dela  Prouincia  de  Cuyo 
Por  el  Padre  Luys  de  Valdiuia  de 
la  Compania  de  Iesus  en  la 
Prouincia  del  Peru. 

PROVECHOSO.  PARA  CONFES- 
sar  los  Indios  de  Cuyo,  y  otras  personas. 

IHS 

CON  LICENCIA. 

En  Lima  por  Francisco  del  Canto. 
Ano.  M.  DC.  VII. 


246 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


Decreto  del  Real  Acverdo 

dela  Audiencia  delos  Reyes. 

AViendose  visto  la  Doctrinas 

Christianas,  Catecismos,  Con- 
fesionarios,  Artes  y  Vocabula¬ 
ries  del  Padre  Luys  de  Valdiuia  dela 
Compania  de  Iesus  enlas  dos  leguas 
Millcayac  y  Alletiac  delas  Ciudades 
de  Mendoga  y  S.  Iuan  dela  Frontera 
y  las  aprobaciones  de  todo,  se  le  da 
licencia  al  dicho  Padre  Luys  de  Val 
diuia  para  que  lo  pueda  imprimir 
por  diez  anos,  guardando  la  ley  nue 
ua  que  da  la  forma  en  la  impression 
delos  libros.  Enlos  Reyes  a  diez  y 
nueue  de  Febrero  de  seyscientos  y 
siete  anos. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


247 


Decreto  del  Real  Acverdo 

de  la  Audiencia  de  los  Reyes. 

AViendose  visto  las  doctrinas  Christianas,  Ca 
thecismos,  Confessionarios,  Artes,  y  Vocabu 
thecismos,  Comfessionarios,  Artes,  y  Vocabu 
larios  del  Padre  Luys  de  Valdiuia  de  la  Compania 
de  Iesus  en  las  dos  lenguas  Millcayac,  y  Allen tiac, 
de  las  ciudades  de  Mendoga  y  S  Iuan  de  la  Frontera, 
y  las  aprobaciones  de  todo :  se  le  da  licencia  al  di 
cho  Padre  Luys  de  Valdiuia  para  que  lo  pueda  im 
primir  por  diez  anos,  guardando  la  ley  nueua  que 
da  la  forma  en  la  impression  de  los  libros.  En  los  Re 
yes  a  diez  y  nueue  de  Febrero  de  1607.  anos. 

Licencia  del  Padre 

Prouincial. 

YO  Esteuan  Paez  Prouincial  de  la  Compania  de  Ie 

sus  en  esta  Prouincia  del  Peru.  Por  particular  com¬ 
mission  que  para  ello  tengo  del  muy  R.  P.  Claudio  Aqua 
viua,  nuestro  Preposito  General,  doy  licencia  para  que  se 
impriman  las  Doctrinas  Christianas,  Cathecismos,  Ar 
tes,  y  Vocabularios  que  el  P.  Luys  de  Valdiuia  de  nues 
tra  Compania  ha  compuesto  en  las  dos  lenguas  Millcayac 
y  Allentiac  de  la  Prouincia  de  Cuyo,  atento  a  que  han  sido 
vistas  y  aprouadas  por  hombres  expertos  en  las  dichas 
lenguas.  En  testimonio  de  lo  qual  di  esta  firmada  de  mi 
nombre  y  sellada  con  el  sello  de  mi  officio.  En  Lima  a 
veynte  y  vno  de  Febrero  de  1607.  Anos. 

Esteuan  Paez. 


248 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


From  the  pagination  we  are  able  to  determine  that  the  same 
order  of  treatment  was  followed  as  in  the  copies  of  Mapuche 
and  Allentiac :  — 

I.  —  Doctrina  Christiana,  ff.  1-20  inch 

II.  —  Confessionario  Breve,  fol.  21  et  seq. 

III.  —  Arte  y  Gramatica; 
and  IV.  —  Vocabulario  Breve. 

On  the  reverse  of  the  title  of  the  “  Confessionario  ”  there  is 
only  the  “  Decreto  ”  where  as  on  that  of  the  Allentiac  “  Con¬ 
fessionario  ”  there  appears  the  same  “  Decreto  ”  followed  by 
the  “  Licencia  ”  signed  by  Father  Paez. 

The  difference  of  the  pagination  depends  principally  upon  the 
larger  type  of  letters  employed  in  the  Millcayac  print. 

Placing  the  two  texts  side  by  side  it  is  evident  that  they  are 
sister  languages  and  not  more  unlike  than  Spanish  and  Italian. 

Millcayac:  Allentiac: 


I 

cu 

cu 

we 

cuchu 

cucha 

our  ( =  of  we) 

cuchu-ch,  we-of 

cucha-ch 

One 

Negui 

Neuvam 

Two 

Yemeni 

Yemen 

Three 

Pultuni 

Ltuu-(yam) 

Four 

Guetuti 

Tut- (yam) 

Five 

Horoc-oy 

Oroc-(yam ) 
horoc 

Six 

Zhillcay 

shillca 

Seven 

Yemenzac 

Yement-qlu 

yement-kleu 

Ten 

mu-tucum 

tucum 

tukum 

Fourteen 

mutucum  gultutqleu 

over  (=  +) 

qlu,  qleu 

kleu,  qlu 

mother 

peqne 

pecne 

sacrament  (order) 

Xama 

xam 

men  (people) 

nochum 

huchum 

and 

ta,  yta 

yta 

is 

matque 

mana 

THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


249 


Guiam,  in  both  languages,  is  the  suffix  of  the  plural. 
Millcayac :  Sacramento  sacrament 

sacramento-guiam  sacraments 

Allentiac :  pia  father 

pia-guiam  fathers 


I  cannot  understand  Boman’s  1  very  strange  attempt  to  sepa¬ 
rate  the  Millcayac  from  the  Allentiac,  censuring  without  any 
reason  Dr.  Brinton,2  who  as  he  erroneously  observes:  “con¬ 
founds  the  Allentiac  with  the  Millcayac;  and  gives  these  two 
languages  as  dialects  spoken  by  the  Huarpes  of  Cuyo.” 

I  am  quite  sure  that  Boman  would  have  arrived  at  other  con¬ 
clusions  if  he  had  read  the  passages  of  the  Allentiac  Arte,  where 
Father  Valdivia  is  teaching:  “  Concuerdan  el  nombre  y  el  verbo 
en  numero  y  persona  como  en  la  lengua  Millcayac,  cuyas  reglas 
siruen  tambien  a  esta”;3  or  “  Concuerda  en  muchas  cosas  esta 
lengua  en  los  numeros  con  la  Millcayac  vease  el  Capitulo  Quinze 
del  arte  Millcayac.”  4 

Brinton’s  statement,  “  the  languages  Millcayac  and  Allentiac 
were  spoken  by  the  Huarpes  of  Cuyo,”  is  in  perfect  accord  with 
all  historical  references  on  the  same  subject. 

Father  Ovalle,5  a  contemporary  of  the  Huarpe-missionary 
Valdivia,  Boman’s  chief  authority  for  the  Cuyo-Indians,  ex¬ 
plains  very  clearly  that  the  Huarpes  are  neighbors  to  the  Indians 
called  Pampas,  probably  the  Taluhet.  And  in  his  description 
of  the  Cuyo-Indians,  called  by  him  simply  Guarpe,  I  can 
not  discover  any  distinction  made  by  this  author  between  the 
Millcayac  and  Allentiac. 

Therefore  there  is  no  doubt  that  at  the  time  of  Valdivia  and 
Ovalle  the  name  Huarpe,  or  Guarpe,  had  been  applied  to  both 
Indian  tribes  called  Millcayac  and  Allentiac,  the  inhabitants  of 
the  territories  embracing  the  modern  Argentine  provinces  of 
Mendoza,  San  Juan  and  San  Luis  de  la  Punta. 


1  Op.  cit.,  I,  p.  36. 

2  “  The  American  Race  etc.,  New  York,  1891,  p.  323. 

3  Op.  cit.,  capitulo  VII.,  f.  XI  r. 

4  Ibid.,  capitulo  VIII.,  fol.  XII  r. 

5  Op.  cit.,  p.  103. 


250 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


The  same  mistaken  attempt  to  separate  the  Millcayac  from 
the  Allentiac,  making  them  an  independent  linguistic  stock,  we 
note  in  Chamberlain’s  recent  article,1  a  brief  recapitulation  based 
principally  on  Mitre’s  and  Boman’s  works. 

Chamberlain  thinks  the  Millcayac  were  Puelche.  Boman,2  on 
the  contrary,  supposes  the  Puelche  were  the  Pampa-Indians  de¬ 
scribed  by  Father  Ovalle,3  who  seems  to  refer  to  the  Talu-het, 
the  neighbors  of  the  Millcayac. 

Raoul  de  la  Grasserie 4  calls  Puelche  the  Allentiac  of  the 
Laguna  de  Guaracacha  (sic),  saying  they  are  descendants  of  the 
Pampa  nomad  tribes  (sic).  And  following  the  same  untrust¬ 
worthy  French  author,  Puelche  are  also  the  Millcayac  of  Men¬ 
doza  (“  c’est  pres  d’eux  fut  fondee  la  ville  de  San  Luis.”!!  — 
de  la  Punta  de  los  venados). 

The  question  of  the  linguistic  affinity  of  the  Millcayac  and 
Allentiac  is  now  solved  notwithstanding  all  said  against  it  by 
Medina,  Mitre,  Boman,  La  Grasserie,  Chamberlain  and  other 
Americanists.  I  am  also  able  to  clear  up  the  uncertainty  of 
the  name  Puelche,  given  oftentimes  to  the  Huarpe  (Millcayac 
and  Allentiac)  of  Cuyo. 

One  of  the  earliest  terms  used  by  the  Spanish  conquerors  of 
Chili  to  designate  the  Cuyo-Indians  was  puelche-algarrobero .5 

Puelche  is  a  Mapuche  word  and  signifies  “  eastern  people,” 
from  puel  “  east  ”  and  che  “  men  ”  or  “  people.”  6 

“  The  Puelche(s),  or  Eastern  people,  so  called  by  those  of 
Chili  because  they  live  to  the  east  of  them,”  explains  Father 


1  “  The  Allentiacan,  Bororoan,  and  Calchaquian  linguistic  stocks  of  South  America," 
in  “  The  American  Anthropologist.”  Vol.  14,  No.  3,  1912,  pp.  499-500;  see  p.  499. 

2  Op.  cit.,  I,  p.  35. 

3  Op.  cit.,  loc.  cit. 

1  “  De  la  langue  Allentiac”;  in  "Journal  de  la  Soci6t6  des  AmOricanistes  de  Paris,” 
N.  S.,  T.  Ill,  Paris,  1900,  pp.  43-100;  especially  pp.  43-44. 

5  Algarroba  ( prosopis  dulce),  the  characteristic  tree  of  the  Huarpe-fw&itoi. 

See:  “  Vocabularios  y  nuevos  materiales  para  el  estudio  de  la  lengua  de  los  indios  Lica- 
n-antai  (Atacamenos)  —  Calchaquf.”  Por  Rodolfo  R'.  Schuller,  Santiago  de  Chile,  s.d. 
(1907)  pp.  103-105,  107,  111,  112-114. 

s  “  ...  on  sail  que  ce  mot  signifie  homme  dans  la  langue  Auca  (sic),”  a  nonsense 
ver3e  of  La  Grasserie,  op.  cit.,  p.  43. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


251 


Thomas  Falkner,1  the  great  ethnographer  of  the  Companfa  de 
Jesus  in  those  parts  of  South  America. 

It  is  a  collective  name  without  any  value  for  the  ethnological 
and  linguistical  classification  of  the  Argentine  Indians. 

Puelche  and  Huilliche  2  are  names  indicating  only  the  geo¬ 
graphical  position,  or  better,  the  region  in  which  the  tribes  so 
designated  lived.  For  the  Chilian  mapuche,  or  moluche,  were 
Puelche,  the  Huarpe  of  Cuyo,  the  Chechehet,  Diuihet,  Taluhet, 
Tehuelhet  and  many  others  inhabiting  the  vast  pampas  from 
Mendoza  and  Cordoba  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan. 

Moluche  and  Puelche  are  the  two  general  denominations  of 
the  Indians,  declares  Falkner. 

The  Moluche  are  known  among  the  Spaniards  by  the  names 
of  Aucaes  and  Araucanos. 

The  former  of  these  is  a  nickname,  and  a  word  of  reproach, 
meaning  “rebel,”  “wild,”  “savage,”  or  “banditti”;  the 
word  aucani  signifying  3  “  to  rebel,”  “  rise,”  or  “  make  a  riot,” 
and  is  applied  both  to  men  and  beasts,  as  auca  cahual  is  a  “  wild 
horse,”  aucatun,  or  aucatuln  “  to  make  an  uproar.”  4 

•  “  A  Description  of  Patagonia,  and  the  Adjoining  Parts  of  South  America;  ”  etc.  Here¬ 
ford,  1774:  see  Chapter  IV.  “  An  Account  of  the  Inhabitants  of  the  Most  Southern  Part 
of  America  Described  in  the  Map,”  pp.  96-103. 

German  edit.,  Gotha,  Ettinger,  1775. 

French  edit.,  Lausanne,  Heubach,  1787. 

French  edit.,  Geneve  et  Paris,  Dufart,  1787. 

Spanish  edit.,  Buenos  Aires,  1835,  1854,  1900. 

See  also;  “  Of  the  Patagonians,”  etc.  By  Thomas  Pennant,  Private  Press,  Darlington, 
1788. 

Raoul  de  la  Grasserie  claims  to  have  found  a  short  Auca  (!)-  language  MS.  by  a  Father 
Falconer  (?)  in  the  National  Library  of  Paris. 

2  Falkner,  op.  cit.,  p.  98:  “  The  Huilliches,  or  Southern  Moluches,  reach  from  Valdivia 
to  the  Straits  of  Magellan  ”;  but  only  the  first  of  the  Huilliche  tribes  spoke  the  Chilian 
tongue,  or  Mapuche. 

The  Chonos,  Poy-yu,  or  Peye  (Peyerais),  and  the  Key-yu,  or  Keye  were  known  by  the 
name  of  Vuta-Huilliche,  or  “  Great  Huilliche,"  because  they  are  bigger-bodied  men  than 
the  Moluche,  or  Pichi-Huilliche  (“  Little  Huilliche.”) 

And  Vuta-Huilliche  were  also  named  the  Tehuelchu,  or  Tehuelhet  and  its  cognates. 
Falkner,  op.  cit.,  pp.  100-101,  says:  “  I  am  inclined  to  think  that  these  nations  of  Tehuel- 
hets  are  those  which  the  Missionaries  of  Chili  have  called  Poy-yus." 

3  In  Quechua. 

4  Op.  cit.,  p.  96. 


252 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


Auca  is  a  Quechua  word,  and  signifies  usually  “enemy,” 
“wild.”1 

A  uca  is,  more  or  less,  a  synonym  of  Chuncho  (the  “  barbarian  ” 
of  the  Romans). 

Therefore,  it  is  entirely  false  to  call  “  Langue-Auca  ”  the  lan¬ 
guage  spoken  by  the  Chilian  Mapuche.  And  Mr.  La  Grasserie 
committed  a  serious  mistake  in  saying:  “  Father  Valdivia 
composed  an  Auca  grammar  and  vocabulary  .  .  .”  2 

The  Chilian  Indians  never  had  known  either  the  name  Auca, 
or  the  name  Araucano ,  both  introduced  in  Chili  by  the  Spanish 
conquerors,  who  probably  had  learned  them  from  the  Inca- 
yanacona,  their  companions  during  the  journey  for  the  conquest 
of  the  Valley  of  Mapocho. 

The  Araucano  call  themselves  Moluche,  from  the  word  molun 
“  to  wage  war  ”;  and  moluche  signifies  “  a  warrior,”  3  a  designa¬ 
tion  quite  in  accord  with  the  indomitable  character  of  the 
Chilian  Indians. 

After  such  declarations  made  by  Father  Falkner  himself,  it 
seems  almost  incredible  that  La  Grasserie  could  have  found 
“a  short  Auca  language  MS.,”  4 * * * * * *  signed  by  a  Father  Thomas 
Falconer  in  the  National  Library  of  Paris. 

The  Puelche,  following  Falkner,  were  divided  into  Talu-het, 
Diui-het,  Cheche-het  and  Tehuel-het,  or,  in  their  proper  language 
Tehuel-Kunny,  i.  e.,  “  Southern  Men.” 

1  See  also:  Dr.  Rodolfo  Lenz.  11  Diccionario  Etimolojico,”  etc.,  pp.  141-142,  no.  54. 

Father  Francisco  de  Figueroa  tells  how  the  Mayna-Indians  from  Upper-Amazon  con¬ 
verted  them  in  Auca,  fighting  their  own  parents:  cf.,  “  Relacidn  de  las  misiones  de  la  Com- 
pauia  de  Jesus  en  el  pals  de  los  Maynas,”  Madrid,  1904,  pp.  20,  33,  92. 

Dr.  Victor  M.  Mau rtua  published  a  document  entitled:  “  Representacion  de  Fernando 
Contreras  d  S.M.  sobre  la  reduceion  de  la  Aucaya”-,  in  “  Alegato  Peruano,”  volume 
“  Chunchos”;  boundary  question  between  Peru  and  Bolivia. 

This  country  called  Aucaya  by  Contreras  means  the  habitat  of  the  wild  Chuncho  of  East¬ 
ern  Peru:  cf.,  “  Las  Lenguas  Indlgenas  de  la  cuenca  del  Amazonas  y  del  Orinoco.”  Por 
Rodolfo  R.  Schuller:  in  “  Revista  Americana,”  II,  Rio  de  Janeiro,  1910. 

2  Op.  cit.,  p.  44. 

3  Falkner,  op.  cit.,  p.  96;  and  p.  132,  seq. 

<  The  famous  “  Langue  Auca  ”  appeared  in  the  “  Bibliotheque  de  Linguistique  Am&i- 

caine,”  XX,  edit,  by  Maisonneuve  &  Cie,  Paris,  1897. 

The  material  on  this  subject  has  been  amply  explained  by  the  learned  Americanist 

Dr.  Rudolf  Lenz  of  the  University  of  Santiago  de  Chile,  in  a  short  pamphlet  entitled: 

“  Kritik  der  '  Langue  Auca  ’  des  Herrn  Dr.  jur.  Raoul  de  la  Grasserie,”  etc.,  Santiago  de 

Chile,  1897;  and  in  the  “  Anales  de  la  Universidad  de  Chile,”  Agosto  de  1898,  pp.  157- 

175. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


253 


The  Diui-het  and  Talu-het  were  known  to  the  Spaniards  by 
the  name  of  “  Pampas  ”  1  but  not  the  Cheche-het  as  Chamber- 
lain  2  affirms,  because  they  belonged  to  the  tribes  called  “  Moun¬ 
taineers,”  or  “  Serranos.”  3 

An  entirely  erroneous  interpretation  of  my  words  is  found  in 
Chamberlain’s  quotation:  “Schuller  classifies 4  the  Puelche, 
Tehuelche,  etc.,  all  under  the  head  of  “  Pampas,”  but  incor¬ 
rectly.”  5 

The  group  of  “  Pampas  ”  mentioned  there  by  me  should 
never  have  been  confounded  with  the  Moluche-Pampas  of 
Barbara,6  Mansilla,7  Zeballos,8  Olascoaga  9  and  others,  because 
I  call  them  expressly:  “  The  Pampas 10  of  Father  Falkner,”  which 
comprise  the  Talu-het,  Diui-het,  Tehuel-kunny,  etc.,  to  dis¬ 
tinguish  them  from  the  Pampas-Araucan  of  Moluche  or 
Mapuche-origin,  so  often  affiliated  with  Falkner ’s  het  and 
kunnee  tribes. 

They  are,  and  this  is  the  important  thing,  homogeneous  ethno¬ 
logical  and  linguistical  factors. 

The  simple  denomination  of  “  Pampas  ”  would  be  as  mis¬ 
leading  as  the  name  of  “  Puelche,”  using  it  for  the  linguistic 
classification  of  the  Argentine  tribes  after  the  time  of  the  Arau- 
cano-invasion  of  those  territories. 

To  avoid  errors,  I  would  propose  to  accept  the  named 
groups  of  Tson,  established  by  Dr.  Lehmann-Nitsche.11  I  can- 

1  Falkner,  op.  cit.,  pp.  99,  100-101;  especially  p.  99. 

2  “  On  the  Puelchean  and  Tsonekan  (Tehuelehean),  the  Atacamenan  (Atacaman)  and 
Chonoan,  and  the  Charruan  linguistic  stocks  of  South  America”;  in  “The  American 
Anthropologist,”  Vol.  13,  No.  3,  July— Sept.,  1911,  p.  459. 

3  Falkner,  op.  cit.,  p.  102. 

4  “  Sobre  el  orijen  de  los  Charrua.”  Santiago  de  Chile,  1906,  p.  146. 

5  Op.  cit.,  1.  c. 

6  “  Usos  y  costumbres  de  los  Indios  Pampas  y  algunos  apuntes  historicos  sobre  la  guerra 
de  la  Frontera.”  Buenos  Aires,  J.  A.  Bernheim,  1856  —  “  Manuel  6  Vocabulario  de  la 
Lengua  Pampa  y  del  estilo  familiar  para  el  uso  de  los  gefes  y  oficiales  del  ejSrcito,  y  de  las 
familias  A  cuyo  cargo  estdn  los  indigenas.”  Buenos  Aires,  1879. 

Barbara’s  linguistic  materials  are  pure  extracts  of  Febrds  mapuche  grammar,  Lima,  1765. 

7  “  Una  excursion  a  los  Indios  Ranqueles,”  Buenos  Aires,  1870;  Leipzig,  1877. 

8  “  La  Conquista  de  Quinze  Mil  Leguas.”  Buenos  Aires,  1878. 

9  “  La  Conquete  de  la  Pampa.”  Buenos  Aires,  1881. 

10  “  Les  Pampas  d6crits  par  Ovalle  (op.  cit.,  p.  103)  sont  probablement  les  Puelches.” 
Boman,  op.  cit.,  I,  p.  35. 

11  “  El  grupo  Tshon  de  los  paises  magellanicos.”  Resdmen  No.  47,  XVII  Congreso  Inter- 
nacional  de  Americanistas,  Sesion  de  Buenos  Aires  16  al  21  de  mayo  de  1910. —  Cham¬ 
berlain.  “  The  Present  State,”  etc.,  p.  95. 

Chono  and  tson-(ekan)  are  identical.  Lehmann-Nitsche  sees  in  the  name  Ona  a  corrup¬ 
tion  of  Tshon  (Ts’n),  1.  c.;  quoted  by  Chamberlain. 


254 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


not  believe  in  the  enormous  linguistic  difference  between  the 
het  (Puelche)  and  kunny  (Tehuelche)  tribes  of  Father  Falkner. 

Father  Garcia,1  the  Pampa-Indian’s  missionary  tells:  “  Todos 
los  Indios  .  .  .  se  pueden  reducir  a  dos  Naciones  que  son 
Aucaes  (moluche),  y  Serranos . ” 

“  Las  lenguas  de  todas  estas  parcialidades  de  Serranos  (or 
Puelche  and  Tehuelche)  nacen  de  una  misma  raiz;  pero  la  de 
los  Puelches  se  diferencia  algo  de  la  de  los  Tehuelchus  en  las 
finales,  y  en  algunos  vocablos,  como  la  Catalana  de  la  Castellana.” 

The  opinion  expressed  by  Outes  and  Bruch  2  that  “  the  lan¬ 
guage  of  the  Puelche,  as  yet  not  studied,  seems  to  be  a  co-dia- 
lect  of  Patagonian  or  Tehuelche,  but  with  considerable  differ¬ 
ence  in  vocabulary,”  3  is  quite  exact. 

Not  one  of  all  the  names  in  use:  Puelche,  Tehuelche,  Pampas, 
etc.,  would  be  sufficiently  precise  to  designate  the  elements  of 
this  group  and  their  use  tends  to  mistakes. 

The  most  evident  proof  of  this  confusion  is  furnished  by 
Chamberlain 4  himself,  .  .  .“Barbara’s  Usos  y  Costumbres 
treats  of  ‘  the  Indian  language  ’ 5  and  some  dialogues  in  Puelche 
(sic)  and  Spanish,”  (this  language  is  still  mapuche,  or  moluche). 
In  consequence,  we  must  suppose  the  Millcayac,  called  Puelche 
by  Chamberlain,6  belongs  to  the  Mapuche,  because  he  does  not 
explain  which  Puelche  they  are. 

Mapuche-Araucano,  or  Pampa-het  ?  This  is  still  an  open 
question. 

1  “  Carta  del  Padre  Pedro  Lozano,  de  la  Compafiia  de  Jesvs,  de  la  Provincia  del  Paraguay, 
escrita  al  P.  Bruno  Morales,  de  la  misma  Compafiia,  y  Provincia,  existente  en  esta  Corte  de 
Madrid.”  s.  1.,  signed  Nov.  1,  1746.  (Printed  in  Madrid,  1747.) 

Navarrete  and  Lamas  had  never  seen  the  original  of  this  scarce  print,  copies  existing  in 
the  Jesuits’  Library,  Sarid  (Barcelona);  London,  British  Museum;  Harvard  University 
Library. 

2  Felix  F.  Outes  y  Cdrlos  Bruch  “  Los  Aborigenes  de  la  Republica  Argentina.”  Buenos 
Aires,  1910,  p.  105.  Chamberlain  “  On  the  Puelchean,”  etc.,  p.  459. 

»  Falkner,  op.  cit.,  p.  110,  says:  “  All  the  Tehuelhets  speak  a  different  language  from 
the  other  Puelche  and  the  Moluches,  and  this  difference  does  not  only  include  words,  but 
also  the  declinations  and  conjugations  of  them:  though  they  use  some  of  the  words  of  both 
nations.” 

4  Op.  cit.,  p.  460. 

6  Entirely  reprinted  in  my  “  El  Vocabulario  Araucano  de  1642-1643.  Con  notas  criticas 
i  algunas  adiciones  d  las  bibliografias  de  la  lengua  mapuche.”  Santiago  de  Chile,  1907, 
pp.  173-178.  On  the  name  Puelche,  see  pp.  178-179. 

6  “  The  Allentiacan,”  etc.,  p.  499. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


255 


Boman  warns  against  confounding  the  Millcayac  with  the 
Allentiac,  but  he  does  not  tell  us  the  reason  for  the  confu¬ 
sion. 

Mitre  1  could  not  find  any  relationship  between  the  Allentiac 
and  the  other  Argentine  Indian  languages;  others  attempt,  not¬ 
withstanding,  to  affiliate  them  with  the  Pampa-het  nations. 
But  I  cannot  see  any  affinity  of  the  Huarpe  with  the  Taluhet 
and  their  cognates  or  with  the  Chaco-Guaycuru  peoples,  as 
Lafone  Quevedo  2  believes. 

In  the  first  instance,  the  Huarpe  were  a  band  of  fishers,  in¬ 
habiting  the  small  islands  in  the  Guanacache-lake  of  S.  Juan, 
using  little  vessels  (balsas)  made  of  totora  straw.  In  this  they 
evidently  resembled  the  Querandiac,  whose  fishing-nets  were 
used  by  Schmidel’s  companions  after  the  battle  near  the  River 
of  Lujan.3 

The  fishing-net  is  an  important  ethnological  factor,  and  con¬ 
stitutes  a  partition-wall  as  well  between  the  Huarpe  and  the 
Pampa-het,  as  between  these  and  the  Charrua.4 

The  Huarpe  must  have  managed  also  a  primitive  agriculture. 
And  it  seems  they  have  not  been  a  wandering  people  “  moving 
their  habitations  for  no  other  reason  than  natural  propensity,” 
as  did  their  Pampas  neighbors  described  by  Ovalle  and  Falkner. 

1  Raoul  de  la  Grasserie,  op.  cit.,  cannot  claim  authority  after  reprinting  the  Allentiac 
text  as  follows:  — 

Cuchach  (!)  peque  (!)  sancta  Yglesia  ech  xam  horoc  mapamna. 

Nenvam  (!)  xam  mana;  chu  domingo  tectaya  (!)  unum  tayam  fiestu  (!)  ye  achelca 
quiam  (!)  Missa  zacatu  Itaatma. 

Yeme  (!)  nayam  xam  mana  tantat  (!)  lopi  confessa  (!)  iltaatma  xapia  ati  comulgaya  ati 
ache  cha  lay  confessaatma  (!). 

Ltuuyam  (!)  xam  man  Jesu  Christo  anayna  (!)  altichan  Pascuye  (!)  comulgaetma. 

Tutyam  xam  mana,  cuchech  (!)  pecue  (!)  Sancta  yglesia  ayunta  (!)  yam  tecta  palpay- 
pia  (!!)  ayunaetma. 

Oroc  yam  xam  mana,  Diezmos  Primicias  ymen  taltomltaatma  (!)  —  cf.  facs.  edition, 
Sevilla,  1894,  fol.  5r. 

2  Mitre,  op.  cit.,  p.  50. 

3  “  Ulrich  Schmidel  —  Viaje  al  Rio  de  la  Plata.  1534-1554.”  Buenos  Aires,  1903, 
p.  151. 

4  “  Dario  da  navegafao.  1530-1532.”  (Pero  Lopez  de  Souza),  in  “  Revista  Trimensal  do 
Instituto  Historico,  Geogr.  e  Ethnogr.  do  Brazil.”  T  XXIV  (2.  edit.).  Rio  de  Janeiro, 
1864. 

Benigno  Martinez  “  Etnografia  del  Rio  de  la  Plata."  Buenos  Aires,  1897  (edit.  12mo 
Concepcion  del  Uruguay),  is  also  contradicted  by  the  Jesuit  missionary  Father  Florian 
Baucke  “  Ein  Jesuit  in  Paraguay.”  Regensburg  &  Cincinnati,  1871  (Wien,  1830,  1910). 

See  also:  Father  Bohm  and  Sepp,  S.  J.,  letters  from  Paraguay. 


256 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


In  no  other  way  can  we  understand  the  home-industry  of  the 
Huarpe  so  carefully  detailed  by  the  Jesuits  Ovalle  and  Lozano.1 

Their  harmless  2  and  unwarlike 3  character  stands  in  open 
opposition  to  that  of  the  bold,  active,  warlike  Pampa-het,  often¬ 
times  the  horror  of  the  Spanish  colonists  of  Buenos  Aires. 

The  Huarpe  were  a  foot-people,  and  have  never  learned  to 
ride  on  horseback.  And  the  circumstance  that  the  introduction 
of  the  horse  among  the  Indians  of  those  parts  of  Argentine  did 
not  in  the  least  modify  the  social  conditions  of  the  Huarpe,  is 
another  proof  that  they  were  not  constant  nomads  as  were  the 
Pampa-het. 

The  Huarpe  and  Pampa-het  are  not  only  two  distinct  lin¬ 
guistic  stocks,  but  also  two  entirely  different  ethnological  and 
physical  groups. 

Boman  4  says:  “The  isolated  position  of  the  Allentiac  lan¬ 
guage  and  the  different  names  given  to  the  Huarpe  and  proceed¬ 
ing  from  the  South  and  the  North  [refers  to  the  hybrid  Tehuel- 
che-Aymara  combination]  lead  us  to  suppose  that  they  are  the 
last  remains  of  a  people,  who,  much  earlier,  occupied  the  vast 
regions  Qf  southern  South  America.”  5 

I  do  not  think  so,  because  Boman’s  statement  “  les  noms 
Huarpe  et  Allentiak  ne  semblent  pas  appartenir  a  la  langue 
allentiak  ”  is  a  conjecture.6 

Neither  can  I  accept  the  etymology  of  the  name  of  x\llentiak 
given  by  Mitre  7  and  repeated  by  Boman.8 

Allentiak,  says  Boman,9  can  be  derived  from  Tehuelche  alien 
“  man  ”  or  “  people  ”  (et  Huarpe  serait  aymara  (sic)10  but  we 
learn  nothing  of  the  origin  of  the  suffix  “  tiak.”  11 

Mitre  combines  the  Tehuelche  alien  with  the  Allentiac  alhu- 
ayac  “  from  outside.”  Allentiac  would  express  “  foreigners,” 

1  “  Historia  de  la  Compania  de  Jesus  de  la  Provincia  del  Paraguay.”  Tomo  Segundo. 
En  Madrid,  1755,  pp.  67  sq. 

2  Ovalle,  op.  cit.,  p.  101. 

3  Lozano,  op.  eit.,  p.  68,  “  era  gente  comunmente  pusilanime  y  de  pocos  espiritus,  parti- 
cularmente  los  Laguneros  ”  (particularly  the  Allentiac). 

4  Op.  cit.,  p.  36.  6  Chamberlain  “  The  Allentiacan,”  p.  499. 

6  Following  Mitre,  who  says:  “  Hasta  la  misma  denominacidn  de  Huarpes,  es  avmard,” 
op.  cit.,  p.  46. 

7  Ibid.,  p.  44.  8  Op.  cit.,  loc.  cit.  9  Ibid. 

10  The  same  definitions  for  both  names  is  given  by  Mitre,  op.  cit.,  pp.  44—46. 

II  Chamberlain,  op.  cit.,  loc.  cit.,  is  mistaken. 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


257 


or  “  outsiders  ”  a  name,  as  Mitre  supposes,  given  them  by 
the  Puelche  and  Tehuelche.1  On  this  entirely  hypothetical 
hybrid  word  chiefly  rests  Boman’s  theory. 

I  ask  now,  is  it  conceivable  that  both  languages,  the  Puelche 
and  the  Tehuelche,  lacked  the  term  signifying  “  foreigners,” 
and  that  those  Indians  were  obliged  to  combine  alien  “  man,” 
or  “  people  ”  of  their  own  language  with  Alhuayac,  a  stranger’s 
term,  to  express  those  ideas  ?  The  conjecture  of  such  an  arti¬ 
ficial  combination,  I  think,  is  more  than  evident.  In  this 
manner,  the  same  origin  should  be  attributed  to  the  name  Mill- 
cayac  w;hose  etymology  is  not  quoted  by  either  Mitre  or  Boman. 

That  I  must  also  reject  the  derivation  of  (Allen-)  tiac  from 
the  Quechua  tiac,  or  tuyac  “  native,”  or  “  inhabitant,”  sug¬ 
gested  by  Lafone  Quevedo,2  is  obvious.  His  opinion  that  the 
Allentiac  language  has  no  relationship  with  the  Atacameno- 
Calchaquf  is  unsupported. 

Valdivia  3  gives  in  his  Allentiac  grammar  the  word  yag  signify¬ 
ing  “  man.”  Example:  choto  yag  “  good  man.” 

The  following  words  seem  to  be  identical  combinations:  — 

Millca-yac,  Allen-tiac,  Queren-diacA 

It  is  very  common  for  Indians  to  call  themselves  “  men  ” 
(=  warriors),  meaning  by  this  members  of  the  tribe  or  clan. 

Aba  “  man  ”  is  only  the  Guarani  Indian;  and  carat  “  enemy  ” 
means,  the  foreigners,  that  is,  those  persons  not  belonging  to 
the  Aba,  or  Guarani.5 

Conclusion: 

I.  —  Father  Valdivia’s  tracts  in  the  Millcayac  language  were 
printed  6  probably  before  the  Allentiac-Grammar  at  the  same 

1  Chamberlain,  op.  cit.,  p.  500.  “  The  derivation  of  de  Valdivia  is  not  at  all  satisfac¬ 

tory”;  this  in  consequence  of  the  misinterpretation  of  Mitre’s  Spanish  text.  Father 
Valdivia  never  expressed  his  own  opinion  concerning  the  origin  of  the  name  Allentiac. 

2  And  the  other  combination  with  the  Chaeo-Guaycuyu  lek  has  no  justification.  Cf. 
Mitre,  op.  cit.,  p.  48.  The  same  should  be  said  of  his  strange  theory  on  pp.  50-51. 

2  fol.  2. 

4  Chamberlain,  op.  cit.,  loc.  cit.,  “  Boman  .  .  .  suggests  that  the  Hispanified  Diag-uita 
may  be  cognate,”  is  not  correctly  quoted.  See  “  Sobre  el  orijen  de  los  Charriia,”  p.  146, 
note  1.  —  “  Nuevos  materiales  Atacemeno,”  p.  64,  note  3. 

6  Montoya,  Figueira,  Bettendorf,  etc. 

6  Boman’s  “  aprds  avoir  public  son  arte,  le  P.  Valdivia  Ccrivit  une  grammaire  et  un  voca- 
bulaire  d’une  autre  langue  nornmCe  millcayac  .  .  .  ,”  op.  cit.,  I.  c.,  are  combinations  made 
by  himself. 


258 


THE  LANGUAGE  OF  THE  MILLCAYAC  INDIANS 


press  in  Lima,  following  certain  passages  in  the  last  concerning 
the  Arte  of  that  idiom. 

II.  —  The  Millcayac  and  Allentiac  are  undoubtedly  sister 
languages. 

III.  —  Neither  idiom  has  any  relationship  with  the  Puelche, 
or  Pampa-het  described  by  Father  Falkner,  nor  with  the  Ma- 
puclie  tongue  of  Chile. 

IV.  —  The  name  Puelche  is  a  collective  term  and  without 
value  in  the  scientific  classification  of  Argentine  Indians. 

V.  —  The  name  Auca,1  a  Quechua  word,  applied  to  the 

Chili an-Mapuche  is  incorrect.  ^ 

VI.  —  The  Puelche,  or  Pampa-het  of  Falkner,  and  the  Tehuel- 
che  or  Tehuelhet  (Tehuelkumnee)  are  probably  related. 

VII.  —  In  order  to  avoid  mistakes  it  would  be  well  to  use  the 
name  Tson  for  this  linguistic  stock. 

VIII.  —  The  cultural  conditions  of  the  Huarpe,  a  fishing 
people,  separate  them  from  the  Puelche  (-het)  and  relate  them 
to  the  Querandiac,  those  Indians  so  often  confounded  with  the 
“  old  Pampas  ”  (Puelche,  or -het  tribes.) 

IX.  —  The  phonetic  system  of  both  idioms  is  similar  to  that  of 
the  Lule-Tonocote  language  of  Father  Machoni; 2  and  they  seem 
to  contain  also  elements  of  the  Kaka,  the  language  spoken  by 
the  Calchaquf-Diaguita  of  Catamarca,  Tucuman,  etc. 


1  The  same  may  be  said  for  the  name  Araueano. 

1  /Arte,  /  y  /  Vocabulario  /  de  la  /  Lengua  Lule,  /  y  /  Tonocote,  /  Comp- 
vestos  /  Con  Faeultad  de  sus  Superiores.  /  Por  el  Padre  Antonio  /  Machoni  de  Cerdena, 
de  la  /  Compania  de  Jesvs.  /  Con  licencia.  /  —  /  En  Madrid:  Por  los  Herederos  /  de 
Juan  Garcia  Infanzon.  /  Aiio  de  1732.  //  (Reprinted  in  Buenos  Aires,  1877). 

Washington:  Congress  Library. 

Providence:  John  Carter  Brown. 

London:  British  Museum. 

Madrid:  Biblioteca  de  Ultramar. 

Rio  de  Janeiro:  Benedictine  Monastery. 

Buenos  Aires:  Museo  Mitre. 

This  language  is  the  same  spoken  by  the  old  Toconote  or  Tonocote  of  Father  Barzana’s 
time  (1586-1589),  notwithstanding  Lafone  Quevedo  thinks  the  contrary.  The  reasons 
alleged  by  this  Americanist  can  not  convince  me.  See:  “Los  Lules.  Estudio  Filologico 
y  Calepino  Lule-Castellano  —  seguido  del  Catecismo  —  Vade  Mecum  para  el  Arte  y  Voca¬ 
bulario  del  P.  Antonio  Machoni  S.  J.”,  por  Samuel  Alejandro  Lafone  Quevedo  M.  A.  (Del 
Boletin  del  Instituto  Geogrifico  Argentino.  Tomo  XV,  pajs.  185  y  siguientes)  Buenos 
Aires,  1894.  in-l" — pp.  145;  cf.  pp.  9-21. 

The  methodical  study  of  all  those  Argentine  Indian  languages  is  yet  a  pium  desiderium. 


■a 


CONTEXTS 


V 


Postpositions . 192 

The  Adjective . 193 

Numerals . 194 

The  Adverb . 195 

Conjunctions . 196 

Pronouns . 196 

The  Verb . 199 

Xominalizing  Affixes . 203 

Negative . 203 

Intensive  Particle . 204 

Composition . 204 

Tables  . 207 

Vocabulary . 209 

5.  Millcayac  Language.  Discovert  of  a  Fragment  of  the 
Work  bt  Louis  de  Valdivia,  with  Bibliographical  Notice. 

Bt  Rudolph  R.  Schuller.  June.  1913. 

Editorial  Note  by  F.  W.  Putnam . 223 

Author’s  Preface . 225 

The  Language  of  the  Millcayac  Indians . 227 

Reproduction  of  the  four  pages  of  Valdivia’s  work . 236 

Millcayac  and  Allentiac  compared . 240 

Conclusions . 257 

Index  to  Volume . 259 


/ 


